WHEN ADONIA WAS MERELY ten years of age, she realized boys were not the bugs crawling with cooties she had made them out to be . . . all thanks to Min Yoongi. She remembered the first time she met him, keeping the fond memory safe inside her head throughout the years.

Adonia grew up lonely. Her father was a wealthy businessman, owning his own company, which his son would surely take over when he came of age. This meant he was always away on business trips or locked inside his office while her mother tended to every one of her brother's needs, oftentimes forgetting Adonia had her own. She didn't have many friends; most of the kids her age labeled her as a snob because of who her father was, so there was no point in trying with them.

Her brother, Kim Seokjin, however, always made sure to drag her along wherever he went like she was his very own prodigy, apprentice, assistant, whatever. He had always been her protector from day one . . . even if he kicked her out of the room every time he had his friends over. (They were playing boy games, he'd always say, but she was smart for her age. She knew boy games actually just meant looking at the special magazines your father kept hidden in his room.)

She had grown up alone. But she was used to it. It didn't bother her. She liked to be alone when she drew in her sketchbook anyway. And she did draw every chance she got. It helped keep the loneliness at bay.

The day she met Min Yoongi had been no different.That day, she found herself alone yet again. Their father had locked himself in his office for the night while their mother took Seokjin to one of his basketball practices. In her lonesome, she'd turned to mindlessly draw in front of the television in the living room, while the movie Matilda played in the background. she'd spent that time etching the ideas that had consumed her young mind onto the new sketchbook she had begged her parents to buy. she'd planned to ask for paints next.

Adonia liked being alone. She liked painting in silence. Lately, she had been finding the silence, in general, not so bad. she'd even go as far as to say she enjoyed it. But Seokjin didn't. He could never handle it. Because of this, he'd always kept busy with his many interests that seemed to grow as he aged. While only at ten, Adonia enjoyed days full of art and color and watching Matilda over and over again, Seokjin was stuck at twelve almost thirteen with an overactive mind and a need to fight twenty-four-seven. Granted, he was only a preteen boy, so it was a given he’d beg his parents to let him join every sport he set his mind to. And the sport he had chosen this year: basketball. And this time their mother decided to chaperon every practice and every game . . . so that meant Adonia would be left alone even more, given the other invasive fact that their father was far too busy to give her the time of day. It would just be Adonia and her drawings from now on, she supposed. She'd have to draw faces to keep herself company, and that wasn't so bad. She could find friendship in the two-dimensional caricatures she'd craft. And she could like that. She had to like that.

So when their mother opened the front door with boxes of pizza juggling in her hands, warning her that Seokjin and his friends would be in any minute, it was no surprise that she was still drawing. She had nodded, not paying much attention due to the fact that her dear older brother always made it a habit to invite his friends over to his house after their basketball practices. It was routine by now. A routine she hated . . . because . . . her brother’s offer to have his teammates over meant she would have to sit there in the middle of their preteen antics and body odor and endure it all. (Just another reason why you had never paid attention to boys: they all smelled. Bad.)

But that day had been different. Because when the boys from her brother’s team finally all piled in, loud and obnoxious as they made their way to the kitchen for a slice of pizza, she spotted a new face. He was shorter than most of the boys, his limbs long and skinny, but he had this expression on his round face that convinced her young, hopeless romantic mind that she had truly just seen sparks fly. Like, full-on sparks. Perhaps there were even hearts in her eyes. She observed him for the rest of the night, and in her ten-year-old mind, she had reassured herself that no, this was not stalking . . .Because, no, it was not creepy for Seokjin’s little sister to stand in the doorway of the kitchen, silent and standing still as she listened to the boys talk amongst each other. And, no, it was not weird that she kept staring at the new face amongst her brother’s friends, giggling when she saw him accidentally drop a piece of pepperoni on the floor. He had looked at her then, his attention being drawn to the sound of her small laughter. And when he had, Adonia being ten and well . . . not used to interacting with other people often, tried to hide from his gaze, but the boy didn’t give her a weird look like his peers normally sent her way, instead, his mouth morphed into an awkward tight-lipped smile as he hastily picked up the pepperoni from the floor and flicked it onto his plate. He then turned away and focused his attention on Seokjin, who was loudly demonstrating the shots he had made during practice. It was clear he could still feel her eyes on him as he kept awkwardly glancing her way, shifting under her gaze. It wasn’t until the boy grabbed another paper plate, put a piece of pizza on it, and approached her that she truly realized that the boy had actually seen her staring at him.

Almost as if she had been starstruck, she stared at him, her eyes as wide as saucers as she glanced between the plate in his hands and his face.A second later he had asked, “Did you want a slice?” His voice was small with only a hint of awkwardness hidden behind his calm tone as he held out the plate toward her.She blinked, nodding up at him, and a second afterward, she grabbed the plate from him, her eyes never leaving his face. She noticed then that he had a small freckle on his nose, and she decided that it was her favorite thing about him. It only took a second longer for her to convince herself that she is going to marry him. This caused her cheeks to blaze aflame. (she’d surely write this down in your diary . . . )

But her cheeks didn’t stay burning long before her brother finally became burdened by her presence and yelled her name, "Leave Yoongi alone. You’re freaking my friends out with your weird looks.”

She blinked, slightly stunned as she kept her wide eyes on the boy—Yoongi.

“It’s OK,” Yoongi mumbled, offering a small smile. “She was just hungry.”

She grinned widely at his words.

Yoongi.

She noted his name so she wouldn’t forget it. To the diary, it would go. However, when she heard her brother click his tongue in annoyance, she quickly snapped out of her bashful daze and groaned at her brother, stomping her foot and pointing a finger at him. “You can't kick me out this time. It's dinnertime, and I'm hungry,”she huffed. “And . . . Mom said I could join!”

Her brother gave her an irritated look. “No, mom told you to leave me alone when I have friends over,” he hissed.

“No—” she bit out— “you did!” she groaned again. "I couldn’t starve . . . because of you!"

Seokjin clicked his tongue. “OK, you have your pizza now, so go.”

“But—”

“Go away, shithead,” Seokjin whined, shooing her away.

She glared at him. "You're such a nerd."

"Nerd?" Seokjin scoffed. "How-How am I a nerd?"

"Find a mirror," she muttered as she pointed at the glasses on his face, simultaneously taking a bite of her pizza at the same time.

Seokjin gave her a pointed look. "If you leave now--" he paused to release a sigh as he rolled his eyes and continued, his voice muffled-- "we can watch Matilda later."

Adonia smiled, complacently. “Fine.”

She turned to leave the kitchen, but not before she stuck her tongue out at her older brother. He reciprocated the action but flipped her off in the process. He, however, quickly realized what he had done, his eyes flying wide open just as a sly grin slid onto her face. And at that, sge took off running as she yelled, “Mom, Jin flipped me off!”

But as she ran away, she could have sworn she had heard a laugh fall from Yoongi. Maybe she had imagined it . . . but . . . it'd warmed her heart nevertheless.

The second time Adonia saw Min Yoongi, it was a Tuesday. She had just returned home from school, skipping through the front door of their house with her mother close behind her. While her mother briefly told her that she would be in the kitchen making dinner, Adonia hummed in acknowledgment as she made her way to the living room, pulling out her sketchbook from her backpack and getting to work.

She hadn’t known how much time had passed before loud voices carried into the room and she felt the cushion beside her on the couch dip under the weight of someone else. Only when she glanced up did she realize sitting beside her was her brother’s friend, Yoongi.

Now, Adonia had successfully found out a few things about the boy beside her over the past few weeks that he had become friends with her brother. While Seokjin was busy gaming, she would nag and nag and nag him to tell her more about his friend, to which Seokjin always teased her, telling Adonia that he was too old for her. She had only huffed and rolled her eyes, deciding to keep her mouth shut and deal with the information she had already gathered.

And to her diary, it all went......

Min Yoongi was his full name. He was around the same age as her brother, so about twelve, almost thirteen—around a little over one or close to two years older than her, but two grades apart due to the cut-off. He was new to the team, just recently moving to Seoul from Daegu because his father got a new job there and apparently it was paying better, so they decided to enroll Yoongi in the same school that Seokjin went to. 

That also meant that he had begged his parents to let him join a local basketball team in hopes of maintaining some familiarity with his old life. And he was surprisingly good, already mastering most of the positions and slowly improving their team bit by bit. And . . . he had the prettiest eyes Adonia had ever seen. (Although, the latter fact being one that she had added entirely on her own.)

And as he sat beside her on that couch, she realized his eyes were even prettier than she had originally noted. When he offered her a small friendly smile, she could have sworn she was going to puke a butterfly.

But the boy turned away a second later and she realized she had been staring up at him with a wide (maybe too wide) toothy grin.

she heard her brother call her name, drawing her attention. Only then as she turned to look at her brother did she realize Yoongi was only sitting beside her because her brother and his other friend from the team, Jung Hoseok were occupying the only other couch in the living room. And then she realized why they were in there—they wanted the TV and that meant Seokjin would be nagging her to leave them be any minute.

“Nuh-uh, I was here first,” Adonia quickly groaned out before her brother could say a word, stomping her feet on the ground.

Seokjin sighed. “We’re watching a horror movie. You’ll get scared,” he told her, his brows raised. He thought he was so much older now since his birthday would be in a few weeks, but she was older too. she'd be eleven in December . She could so watch a scary movie.

“I like scary movies,” she lied. “I watch them all the time.” Another lie.

"You still watch Matilda," Seokjin countered. "You're practically four."

Adonia shot him a look. "I'm ten, you four-eyed freak."

While Seokjin gave her a pointed look and lifted his glasses up his nose, Hoseok gave a small laugh. she, however, glanced at Yoongi beside het, seeing he was looking at his friends, a small smile on his face.

Fortunately for her, Seokjin let her stay as he started the movie. But she immediately lowered her eyes to her sketchbook, drawing to distract herself from the noises coming from the television. About thirty minutes in, trying to mask her fear by drawing more and more, she heard Yoongi speak . . . to her.

“That’s cool.”

She stopped and looked up at him, speechless. “What?”

“Your drawing,” Yoongi whispered, pointing at her sketchbook. “I think it’s cool. You’re . . . really good.”

Adonia turned bashful. “Oh. Thank you.”

A scream from the television, however, made her jump, causing her eyes to squeeze shut.She opened them, slightly more embarrassed now as she avoided eye contact with the older boy. Her eyes drooped to her sketchbook a second later, too embarrassed to look him in the eyes. One look from those feline-like eyes would surely make her embarrass even more, and she had done enough of that tonight. But the boy didn’t let her dwell in her embarrassment for much longer before he reached behind him, grabbed a pillow, and offered it out to her.

Adonia glanced between the pillow and Yoongi’s face.

The boy only offered a small smile. “Block the screen with it,” he began. “It helps . . . a little.”

She smiled, bashfully. “Thank you,” she mumbled as she took the pillow and rested it on her knees that were bent to her chest. And he was right. The pillow did block the screen, allowing her to rest a little easier now that she didn’t have to endure the jump scares through her peripheral.

And just when she thought her heart couldn't beat faster, Yoongi whispered to her, “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t tell your brother you’re scared as long as you don’t tell him I am too.”

Adonia blinked.

Yoongi scrunched his nose as he held out his pinky finger, gesturing for her to solidify the promise.

And how could she oppose?

She couldn’t.

Adonia reached for his pinky with a grin on her face, linking their pinkies together and shaking. This was their first promise, but she could tell it wouldn’t be the last.

It did not take long for Adonia to warm up to Min Yoongi. In fact, she looked forward to every time he would come home with her brother after practice or just to randomly hang out on the weekend. She had even started to willingly go with her mother to watch her brother's games although... she never told any of them that she only went to see Yoongi.

So, she had a crush on Min yoongi . So what?

Adonia couldn't help the heat that would creep up on her cheeks when he would come over to their house, sending a small wave her way when they'd lock eyes. Oftentimes when Seokjin's teammates would hang out at the Kim household, they'd end up filtering to their spacious backyard where there lay a pool accompanied by an area where their parents had recently installed a small basketball court. It seemed Seokjin would be sticking with basketball for a while, and she couldn't complain.

Adonia especially couldn't complain when she'd pretend to go outside and draw in her sketchbook when she was actually just watching the boys play scrimmages of basketball. Her crush only worsened every time Yoongi would come over to her, dragging her with him to get her to play in one of the games with them. And every time, she found herself unable to say no to him.

And when the rest of the boys had to head home, the night usually ended with Yoongi and Hoseok deciding to stay the night as per Seokjin's request. This, of course, always resulted in the three of them plus Adonia staying out in the backyard, teaching her how to shoot and block. However, Yoongi ended up being the one to teach her most of the tricks, telling her that she was his prodigy in the making.

You're gonna be better than me one day," he said one night as she made the ball into the basket.

From the other side of the court, Seokjin snorted. "Don't go lying to her, Yoongi."

"Yah!" she whined, stomping her foot at her brother. "Watch it, four-eyes!"

Seokjin only laughed, quickly tsked at her when he'd heard her insult, while Hoseok, who stood beside him, whacked his chest. "She'll get better the more she practices," he reassured with a warm smile.

Adonia beamed at him, opening her mouth to speak, but a hand resting on top of her head trapped the words in her throat. She blinked and followed the hand, discovering that it was Yoongi who had decided to rest his palm atop her crown, his other hand holding the basketball. "She's already better than you are now," the Min boy teased, raising his brows.

"Really?" she questioned, her voice small and hopeful.

Yoongi looked down at her and nodded. "Way, way, way better," he hummed as he scrunched his nose, patting her head before he dropped his other hand to the basketball. "Just look at those long arms of his. He'll slap you in the face before he can steal the ball."

Adonia let out a burst of laughter, and Seokjin scolded them.

"Stop fraternizing with the enemy!" the Kim boy yelled, his hands out.

Yoongi rolled his eyes. "Your little sister is not the enemy," he began. "Those long arms of yours are.. and that awful hand-eye coordination you got going on."

"Yah!" Seokjin hissed, almost stomping his foot on the asphalt, but stopping himself. "My arms are a normal length."

"Let's put it to the test," Yoongi declared as he passed the ball to Seokjin. "New game?" His eyes drifted to Adonia as if asking her personally.

"New game," she mumbled, trying to find her voice but she was too wrapped up in his eyes. Yoongi grinned at that and she was sure that she was going to faint.

"Me and the kid against you and Hoseok?" Yoongi announced, looking at Seokjin for confirmation. "Or are you too scared to face me and my prodigy?"

Me and my prodigy.

Adonia turned bashful. To the diary, it would go..........

And before she could convince herself that, she heard wedding bells in the background, she heard Seokjin agree and then Yoongi was giving her a friendly pat on the back before he immersed himself into the game. Adonia had no choice but to follow suit, after all, she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him by making him lose the game. It wasn't until they had actually won and she was convinced Yoongi was some kind of good luck charm.

Kim Adonia had a crush. A big fat one at that.

This carried on even as the years passed; even as she turned eleven and then twelve; even as Yoongi turned thirteen and then fourteen. They both grew, but the bond only strengthened, morphing into a friendship even they didn’t see coming. Even though she knew Yoongi only saw her as if she, too, was his little sister, she didn't care. She realized having him as a friend meant more to her even at her young, immature age. She also didn't mind having Hoseok around, finding herself with a wide grin on her face when all four of them were together. And... Seokjin eventually got used to the fact that his friends were now also kind of his little sister's... although he didn't take this information well at first.

(But she made sure to rub it in her brother's face every chance she got.)