Love Maze | BTS 8TH Member

Intro: Blooming Youth

Arin's alarm rang through the dorm, along with multiple other alarms from the boys' phones. She quickly shut it off and stared at the ceiling of her bunk, her mind trying to drag her back to sleep. But she had duties to fulfill and a dream to work towards.

Groaning, she looked to her side to see Jimin's bed empty. Oh lord, was this boy practicing again?

She then turned to the other side and saw Seokjin staring back at her. "Mornin'," he spoke, his deep, groggy voice leaving a fluttery feeling in Arin's stomach.

"Hey," she acknowledged before finally getting up.

Seokjin chuckled at the sight of a messy-haired Arin rushing to the bathroom in her Rapunzel pajamas.

~~~

[After a quick breakfast]

The seven members headed to the company building, the group chattering among themselves. They soon found Jimin dancing in the practice room.

Hoseok suddenly threw his bag on the ground and rushed to turn off the music. "What do you think you're doing, Jimin-ah?! Look at yourself! Did you even sleep?"

Seokjin immediately interfered, placing a hand on Hoseok's shoulder. "There, there. Calm down, Hobi. Why are you lashing out at the poor boy this early in the morning?"

Hoseok shrugged the eldest's hand off of him. His gaze was fixed on the young dancer, whose head hung low in embarrassment. "Don't tell me to stop now, hyung. Haven't you noticed? All these days, Jimin's been practicing till late at night, and waking up extra early only to practice again! You'll overexert yourself!"

"Now, now, let's all calm down before we say something we don't mean," Namjoon interrupted.

Hoseok snapped, "Not today, Namjoon."

Glaring at Jimin, he seethed, "What's your deal, Jimin, huh? How many times do we have to reassure you that you're brilliant at dancing? You're one of the best dancers in the damn group, then why do you keep practicing so much?"

Intruding on Jimin's personal space, he bombarded, "Is it for the fans? Do you want to show them that you're better than us? Stop being such a tryhard!"

This time, it was Arin who interfered. Using herself as an obstruction between the two boys, she warned, "Hoseok, don't. You know you're just saying all that out of spite."

The rest of the maknaes and Yoongi watched the fight drawl out from the sideline.

"Let me get it all out today, Arin. He needs to hear it. You stay out of this," Hoseok muttered.

Arin began, "Hoseok—"

"Let him say it, noona. He's right," Jimin croaked out, his voice feeble as if he hadn't used it in years.

Seokjin defended, "Jimin-ah, you're not a tryhard. You're not an attention seeker or anything of that sort." Throwing a dirty look at Hoseok, he spoke through gritted teeth, "He's spouting nonsense. I don't know what is wrong with him."

Before Hoseok could retort, the door slammed open, and Sejin rushed in with a tablet in his hand. "Namjoon, Arin—come here," he ordered breathlessly. "Now."

The group went silent. His tone meant only one thing: a PR crisis.

"What happened?" Namjoon asked.

Sejin turned the tablet around. It was a grainy but unmistakable photo of Arin and Jonghyun at Magic Shop. The headline of the Dispatch article read: [EXCLUSIVE] BTS' Female Member and SHINee's Main Vocalist: A Secret Magic Shop Date?