Today's the day.

Over the past month, Fire promotions got only less and less frequent, until we finally closed them down with a V App broadcast two weeks ago. With six different types of wins under our belt from the hype track, all of us found it bittersweet to end promotions. However, Big Hit has been pleased with all of our hard work, so all the boys have gotten some time off before we get to work on our next album. I, however, haven't had that much time to rest, because I've been prepping nonstop for my collab with Rin, which we've recently entitled Mirrored. Today is the day we start shooting the music video, meaning it's also the day of Jieun's birthday party down at the foster home.

I jump out of bed to find Seokjin still asleep. I'm not particularly surprised, given that it's five-thirty in the morning. I know I'd much rather be asleep. I exit the room and make my way to the kitchen, my intention being to make some coffee before I head out. When I reach the living room, though, I'm hit with the smell of said beverage wafting through the dorm. Looking around, I note that Rin's in the kitchen, already up and holding a cup of coffee.

"Morning," she says with a smile, taking a sip of her beverage. "Excited?"

"Beyond belief," I reply.

"There's coffee in the pot. I was about to go in there and wake you up."

"Well, there's no need for that— I'm conscious."

After the night Rin and I spent storyboarding, I took another trip to my home away from the dorm— Bang Sihyuk's office. This time, though, Rin came with me. We explained everything that happened the day prior and I asked permission for Rin to stay at the dorm for a little while. Much to our surprise, the CEO actually agreed, provided that no one was allowed to see Rin in the dorm and that she helped us out with things when necessary. Of course, Rin agreed to these conditions, and together we took a trip back to her flat to get her all the things she needed. So, Rin's been living with us for about a month and has made the living room couch her home despite the members' protests.

I move to pour myself a cup of coffee when Rin stops me. "Clean yourself up, I'll take care of this. We've gotta leave soon."

"Right," I say with a smile, suddenly aware of how disheveled I must look. I rush to the bathroom and throw on some black athletic shorts, a black t-shirt, and a face mask and snapback. We're going to have to change out of everything for the shoot anyway, so why bother looking special? I'm just going to dress for comfort. After cleaning myself up more, I head back out to the living room. Rin hands me a thermos full of black coffee and nods towards the door.

"We're going to be late if we wait much longer. I left a note for Seokjin— despite what Namjoon might think, Jin's actually in charge."

I laugh. "Hey, as long as nothing burns down while we're gone I don't care who's in charge. But yeah, you're right. Let's go!"

Rin and I walk over to the door and put on our shoes. I put on some black converse and Rin tugs on red ones, providing a pop of color to the white shirt and jean shorts she's chosen for her outfit. With that, we head downstairs and to my car, heading to the shooting location. The indoor set is on the outskirts of the city, roughly halfway between Seoul and Suwon. Rin and I listen to the radio as we drive, watching the sun rise all the while. The area around us is completely bathed in orange light as we sit in a comfortable silence, neither of us having words to describe how we feel about the collab finally coming to life.

Rin, though, does find some words as I get off the highway. "It doesn't feel real, Yoongi," she says, looking out the passenger's side window.

"You're right," I agree. "It's finally happening, huh?"

"Yeah, it's incredible. I'm nervous."

"Why?" I can't help but question.

"We're going to have to promote this, right? That's what we agreed on."

"That's what's bothering you? Don't worry about that, Rin— I'll walk you through all of it, I promise."

"I'm just thinking about Juyoung. He's going to find out about this, and I'm worried about how it'll affect him. He's going to think I really have turned my back on him."

"You've just got to give him time, Rin. If he really does care about you, he'll get over it."

Rin sighs heavily and I momentarily take my eyes off the road to glance at her. "Y'know how I was against all idols before?"

I actually laugh, then let the sarcasm seep out before I can stop it. "No, Rin. I had absolutely no idea."

"Things were bad after we split, I know," Rin says, disregarding my sass. "When I met Juyoung, I made a point not to tell him that we were ever friends. It turns out, he hates idols even more than I did, and being around him really clouded my judgment. Only recently had he been trying to turn over a new leaf— that's the whole reason he agreed to help you, I think. With the way that's gone for him, though, I'm sure he hates you guys more than ever. I guess I'm just nervous about what he's going to do when he finds out we've been working together."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Rin," I say softly, taking one hand from the gear shift and placing it on top of hers. "Just know I'm with you."

She smiles, squeezing my hand. "Thanks." It's at that point when I pull into the driveway of the shooting location and find a place to park the car. The atmosphere changes the moment I pull the key from the ignition.

"Let's go!" Rin exclaims, jumping out of the car quickly.

"Woah, almost got whiplash from that change in mood," I joke, getting out of the car myself. Rin and I enter the building and find staff members all over the place in a warehouse similar to any other shooting location I've been in. Most of the walls are black and beams and such are exposed in the ceilings, with areas for hair and makeup having clearly been set up.

"You're here!" Our director, Yooheon, announces, smiling brightly at us. The director is a man in his early thirties— tall and thin, and with a toothy smile that's positively infectious. He's dressed in all black and is currently lounging around in a chair near the camera. We've worked with him before for the Danger MV, and we had a lot of fun working with him then. Of course, I'm incredibly excited to be working with him now.

"Good morning, Director-nim!" I exclaim, coming over and bowing to him. Rin follows suit, smiling all the while. She looks like a child seeing something for the very first time.

"Okay, so hurry up and get to the dressing room over there," he gestures to a sign labeled EXIT on the far wall. "We're dyeing your hair, both of you."

"Oh, lovely," I say, curious as to what color it's going to be this time.

"When you're done, get back over here. We want to get you guys out of here by around two o'clock, right?"

"Yes, that's the goal. We have somewhere we need to be at three," I explain.

"Then get going!" He smiles again and shoos us away. Rin looks a little dazed, so I grab her by the hand and tug her towards the other room. Quickly, stylists sit us down and get right to business. Much to my surprise, though, I don't feel the familiar sensation of bleach being rubbed into my scalp. No, instead my hair is quickly rinsed and then painted through with black dye.

"Black?" I question.

"We thought a natural look would be good," the stylist replies.

"I almost forgot what having natural hair looked like."

"Well, we have a little something up our sleeves, so don't get ahead of yourself."

I laugh, albeit a bit nervously, and find myself buzzing with anticipation for the big reveal. In the chair next to me, Rin's blue highlights are being touched up a bit, but it seems she'll be ready for styling long before myself. After about forty minutes of the dye setting, my hair is rinsed again and then styled, revealing little blue streaks the same color as Rin's highlights. I smile, actually quite liking the look, then thank the stylists and rush off to wardrobe and makeup.

Rin's already sitting in the makeup chair, having left the dressing room before me. She's dressed in an outfit I can only describe with the term "gracefully preppy"— she wears a long flowy white blouse with small ruffles on the front tucked into a pleated black skirt, as well as black boots and a flat-brimmed black felt hat. She gives me a small wave and a thumbs-up as a stylist does her makeup, approving of my hairstyle. I smirk at her before heading off to change into my outfit for the day. A stylist practically throws the outfit at me and I run off to change in a semi-discreet location. My clothes consist of torn black skinny jeans (my favorite), a white button-down with black suspenders, and the same black converse I had worn to the set. I then begin the arduous process of getting my makeup done, sitting in a chair near Rin, who's nearly finished up. I'll be the first to admit, she looks gorgeous.

Rin smiles as she sees me, giving me an approving nod. "We match," she says with a laugh.

"Yeah, stylists tend to do that," I joke. Internally, though, I actively push away thoughts about matching couple clothes.

Rin rolls her eyes and adjusts the hat on her head, tipping the brim to me. "Well, you look lovely. I'm going to go shoot now, so wish me luck!"

"You'll do great, Rin," I say sincerely. "Just don't tense up and you'll be fine."

She nods, heeding my advice before heading over to the stage. I watch as the director gives her some rough guidelines before the track starts playing and the cameras start rolling. Rin gets into it, moving as she normally would were she performing this track live. This whole modeling thing must have made her much more comfortable on a sound stage like this, because she seems at home up there with cameras on her. The director tells her to do everything a couple more times, then leaves her in the care of an assistant before coming over to me, still in the makeup chair.

"Rin's really good on camera," he says with a smile. "She's a natural."

"So she's been told," I say, smirking. "She's a part-time model— would be full-time, too, if she'd just sign the contract."

He laughs lightly. "A girl of many talents, yes?"

"Absolutely."

"So, what is it you two are heading to after this?" He asks, changing the subject entirely.

"Oh, it's kind of a weird story. See, Rin works at the library, and recently some kids have been visiting and we've read stories to them. Turns out they're all orphans, actually, but we're heading to a birthday party for one of them. It's at three."

"How old are they turning?"

"Seven, I think."

"Boy or girl?"

"Girl. You're going to work with two of them tomorrow— they're playing us as kids."

"I see," he says, seemingly thinking pretty hard about something. "Well, I'm excited to work with them. But, it's time I get working with you. Come on." He gestures for me to get up onstage and I do, thanking the stylist who'd done my makeup. From there, everything's a blur. I run solo performance shots on two different sets, as does Rin, before we run our shared shots on three sets— one of which is the rooftop of the building. This is far less strenuous than shooting for Bangtan, though, because there isn't any choreography to speak of. At some point, rather than becoming exhausting, shooting just becomes tedious. When we are finally done, though, we've run a little late. It's 2:15.

"Cut! That's a wrap on day one!" The director exclaims as we finish the final shot. Rin and I bow and cheer, thanking everyone for their immensely hard work.

"Alright. Rin, Yoongi, get out of here— don't even bother changing, you're just going to waste time," the director instructs. "Bring those back tomorrow, or don't. You both look nice, so I see no reason for you not to keep them."

We don't have time to argue. After thanking everyone for the nth time, we finally make it out to my car and begin the frenzied drive to Center for Support Foster Care. I find myself speeding pretty much the whole way, but we make it on time. Rin all the while talks about how interesting the shoot was and how excited she is for tomorrow. I agree with everything she says, as I really am just as excited as her to do this.

Parking the car in the foster home's parking lot, Rin and I scramble out of the vehicle as quickly as we can.

"Do you have the bag?" I ask her, referring to the bag containing our present for Jieun.

"Yeah, here," she replies, holding it up. Her purse is in her other hand.

"Great. Race you in?" I say, smirking.

"I'd really rather not—" I hear Rin say, but I'm already running towards the front door. From behind me, I hear the clack of Rin's heels against the ground, accompanied by her complaints.

"Yoongi, I can't run in heels— oh my God, I hate you so much."

"No, you don't," I reply, spinning on my heel to face her. She jogs over to me at the entrance and shoots me a death glare.

"This is the first time in your whole life you have wanted to run somewhere," she deadpans.

"First time for everything," I chuckle.

From there, we enter the building, check in with a receptionist at the front desk, and head to the room where the festivities are being held. It has the same blue and gray color palette as everything else, but here all the artwork on the walls consists of drawings from kids of all ages. Unfortunately, our shenanigans in the parking lot led to us being just a little bit late to the party, but we open the door to the room with smiles on our faces nonetheless.

"Rin! Yoongi!" Jieun exclaims, beaming from ear to ear when she sees us. "I thought you weren't going to come!"

"Why wouldn't we?" I respond, giving the girl a hug. In the room are Minkyeong, a couple staff members, our usual troop of five, and other kids that I don't know. Rin and I exchange pleasantries with everyone and only then does the fun begin.

We start the party in the only reasonable way— with cake. I sit at a plastic table in a folding chair between Rin and Jintae, who keeps stealing glances at me out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" I ask him, laughing.

"Your hair matches Rin's," he says. "How long has it been like that?"

"A couple of hours," I reply. "Rin and I just came from a music video shoot."

"Oh yeah! I get to do that tomorrow!" Jintae exclaims, excitement lacing his voice. "That's gonna be so cool."

"I'm glad you're excited, Jintae," Rin says with a smile. "It's going to be a lot of fun, I promise."

"I know it will be! Jieun, isn't it going to be so much fun?"

"Totally," she responds.

Talking with kids gets easier and easier the more you do it. It's pretty safe to say that Rin and I are experts by the time we get to doing presents, given that we spent a couple of hours just talking with the kids and playing party games. I made a complete fool of myself playing charades, Rin did a horrible job pinning the tail on the donkey, and Jieun had a smile stuck on her face the entire time. Just seeing how happy she is is enough to make me a little sappy. That feeling only gets stronger, though, when we do get to presents.

We all sit in a circle on the floor, holding our gifts with anticipation. Jieun looks around the circle, deciding who she wants to choose first. She starts with Minkyeong, who presents her with new art supplies. Jieun seems pretty excited at this. She then gets a stuffed animal from Jintae, some Telemonster merchandise from Seojin, and various other little toys and trinkets from the other five people in the room. That leaves just Rin and myself to be the last ones to give her her gift.

"Okay, Jieun-ah," I muse, giving her a heartfelt smile. "This is from both of us, okay?"

She nods eagerly, having no words for the situation.

Rin presents her with the bag and Jieun reaches into it carefully. She pulls out the small box and opens it, eyes widening at the object inside.

"Want me to help you put it on?" Rin asks. Jieun nods again, taking the necklace fully from the box. The necklace itself is a crescent moon charm on a silver chain, something we found more fitting to Jieun than a sun charm. Engraved on the back of it are her initials and today's date. She plays with the charm as Rin fastens the chain, as if she's never seen anything like it before.

"So, there's a little more to this," I explain, looking to Rin. She produces from her purse another box, taking the two bracelets out of it. Rin hands one of the bracelets to me and I show Jieun what's on it. Similar to her moon charm, Rin and I have bracelets with stars on them, also having our initials and the date on the back.

"These star bracelets are for me and Rin, and the moon is for you. Even though we might not always be around, we wanted to give you this to remind you that we're here for you. The moon just doesn't seem right without stars by it, right? This is just a reminder that we care about you, Jieun— even when we're far away."

The young girl looks up at us, tears welling up in her eyes. She smiles and those tears start to fall before she wraps herself around me in a tight and sudden hug. "Thank you, Yoongi," she whispers, hugging me with all the strength she has. "Happy birthday, Jieun," is my response.

Jieun quickly gets up and hugs Rin, too, and I look up at Minkyeong to see that she's got tears in her eyes again. I feel kind of bad, honestly— whenever Rin and I are around Minkyeong, she always seems to cry.

Of course, the party ends with the presents, so when Jieun finally lets Rin go, it's time for us to leave. We say our goodbyes to everyone, unable to stay and read despite the kids' requests for us to do so, and make our way to the door. Minkyeong follows us out, asking for us to wait for a moment. We do, of course, and Minkyeong comes back with a small bundle of familiar objects.

"Jieun wants you to have these," she explains, handing the books to us. "Really, let me say how thankful I am that you've been there for these kids. Seeing how happy Jieun was in there— it was really incredible, and it's all thanks to you. I really don't know how to repay you."

"Just keep taking care of them and you'll be doing all you have to," I reply. "We want to see them happy just as much as you do." Minkyeong nods, smiling sadly.

"Thank you again, and see you tomorrow. I'll be driving Jieun and Jintae to the set. Good luck, and get a good night's rest."

"We will, Minkyeong-ssi," Rin says with a curt bow. "Goodnight."

Rin and I jump back in the car to head back to the dorm. I give Rin the books and she peruses them, seemingly lost in thought.

"I wish I didn't have to take off so much from the library," she says, turning a page in the first of the Hyun and Han books. "I think I'm going to quit."

"Why?" I ask.

"I'm never there because I have all this modeling and promotions and stuff; I just feel like I'm wasting time. I mean, I haven't been in at all this month. That, and I think I'm going to sign the contract with Sangmi, finally. Once I'm locked down in modeling I won't need to work there anymore."