Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This was it.

The big day.

You barely hold in your excitement as the lights above the crowd dim and the lights on stage begin to shine. Even standing in front of the stage, part of you still can’t believe it. You had saved every penny, all but sold your soul to your part-time job, and stayed up all night more than once to finish your assignments for the coming week early, and now you were here, at the BTS concert.

Next to you, your friend bounces on her toes. You can see her mouth moving and lean closer to hear what she’s saying.

“Thisisitthisisitthisisit.” She chants under her breath and you laugh.

“I still can’t believe we were able to get right in front of the stage.” You whisper shout in her ear as the crowd around you begins to chant.

“I know!” She says excitedly. Then, “Oh! Here they come!”

She grabs your arm and screams. You join in, caught up in the excitement around you.

They’ve played half the show - and you’re not sure if you’ll be able to talk for the next week from all your shouting - when it happens. They are singing and dancing and you’re not ashamed to admit you’re entranced when suddenly Jeon Jungkook stops in front of you. He gets down on one knee, still singing, and holds his hand out to you.

You blink and try to step back as the spotlight hits you but your friend is holding you tightly in place, even trying to raise your arm for you.

You’re frozen as he stares at you, your eyes wide and unsure. He smiles and beckons you, wiggling his fingers, waiting for you to accept his hand. A second, maybe two has passes, but it feels like an eternity. Then, even more unexpected than Jungkook holding his hand out to you, Min Yoongi stops next to him and crouches down, holding his hand out to you as well.

Your mind is blank, and your heart is racing. This… this is the last thing you had expected to happen. They never and you hadn’t….

“Go! Omg! Take their hands.” Your friend is shouting in your ear and the noise rushes back in. Around you girls are screaming and holding out their hands, and now all seven of them are staring at you and you’re pretty sure if you take their hands, you’ll faint from the blood rushing to your head. You shake your head and step back, breaking your friend’s grip on your arm.

You briefly meet each of their eyes before looking down.

Next to you, another fan starts screaming as they pull her on stage to sing with them. Your ears are burning and so are your eyes and you know that later you’ll regret not going up on stage. But right now all you feel is cool relief washing through you.

“Hey, hon, it’s okay.” Your friend’s soothing voice is in your ear and she’s rubbing your arm as she pulls you into her side. “It was a shock. I know you don’t do well with surprises. Or being on stage.”

You nod, thankful she’s with you and understands. “You wanted me to go up.” You say and smile ruefully at her.

She laughs, “Well, duh. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was just as shocked at you were! But you know I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with?” She asks and turns you so you’re facing her.

You nod and smile and she draws you into a real hug. You both move back to your spots in front of the stage. The girl who had been on stage is standing next to you again and you can see that she’s completely star struck and probably more than half in love.

Deep down, you envy her for being brave enough to take the chance you didn’t.

-0-0-0-

You’re waiting in line for the fan signing now and you hope they won’t remember your face and ask you about what happened. In front of you, your friend is bouncing again and you shake your head, chuckling at her antics. You’re close enough to see the members and a thrill of excitement races through you.

You’re staring, the same as everyone else in line, when suddenly Jungkook looks up and your eyes meet. His widen, and you’re sure yours do too. After less than a moment, he looks away and you let out the breath you were holding. You look away quickly, not sure how you’ll handle it if he, or any of them, look at you again.

He recognized you.

And now you’re not sure if you can stand in this line and sit in front of them. You tap your friend’s shoulder and she turns to look at you, “I think, I’m not feeling good. I’m going to wait for you outside.” You say with a grimace.

“Are you serious? Are you okay? I can come with you.” She says, and you shake your head.

“No, stay. Don’t miss out because of me.” You give her a half smile, “Maybe see if you can get their autographs for me.” You say and start to hand her your book.

“Sure…” She trails off and her eyes go comically wide as she looks behind you.

Someone taps your shoulder. You turn and see a large man in a suit with an ear piece behind you. Your knees go weak.

“Miss, you’re to come with me.” He says, his voice low as he places a large hand on your back, ushering you in front of him. You throw a bewildered look over your shoulder to your friend, but don’t protest. You’re too confused to do much of anything other than follow the pressure of his hand on your back as he leads you through a door and down a myriad of hallways. He stops in front of one closed door, opens it, and gently pushes you inside, “Wait here.” He says, then closes the door, leaving you alone.

The second the door closes, you pull out your phone and message your friend to let her know you’re okay. She messages back relieved looking emojis and asks what you think she should do.

You [10:39pm]: Just wait for me at the hotel, I guess? I don’t know what’s happening, but I’ll try and find someone and get back there as soon as I can.

BFF [10:39pm]: Are you sure??? I can wait here. I don’t want to leave you!!

She messages back quickly, and you bite your lip, thinking. You open the door and peek out. You can’t see anyone and you don’t remember all the turns it took for you to get where you are.

You [10:41pm]: Yeah. The big guy told me to wait here, so I assume someone will come get me. Hopefully!

She texts you back a thumbs up and you put your phone in your pocket before looking around the room you’re in.

On one side, there’s a long table full of food and drinks. The back wall has a large TV mounted on it and there are chairs and couches scattered around. Most of them are facing the TV but some are in the middle of the large room facing each other. Your stomach growls and you take a step toward the food but stop yourself; you don’t know who it’s for, but you’re starting to get a vague idea in the back of your mind. Turning your back on the food, you walk over to one of the chairs in front of the TV and sit, crossing your legs on the seat in the process. You manage to sit still for maybe 3 minutes before you’re bouncing your legs and bored. You see a couple remotes on one of the couches and grab them before settling back in your seat. It only takes a glance for you to see which one controls the TV and which one the DVD player suspended under it that you hadn’t noticed before. The TV is loud when you switch it on, and you wince, turning it down. A movie is already playing and you lean back in your seat, content to wait and watch for the time being. Before you get too comfortable and forget, you send a quick text to your friend, telling her of your suspicions and promise to get pictures if you’re right.

You’re not sure how long you’ve been in there, but it’s been long enough for you to begin sympathizing with the villain, when the door opens. You jump a bit and grab for the remote, fumbling with it as you hurry to shut the movie off. Finally, it clicks off and you turn to see BTS filing in through the door.

“Oh my god…” You breathe out.

Jungkook notices you first. He shouts something and makes his way to you, followed by the rest of the band members.

You laugh nervously and try to stand, briefly forgetting that you’ve been sitting on your legs. You manage to stand for a second when your legs suddenly give out from under you. “Ah!”

Before you hit the ground, a strong pair of arms catch you. He says something, and you can feel your face heat, you don’t understand a word he’s saying. You might be in Korea, but you’re still learning the language.

“Um, I can’t, I’m sorry, I don’t speak Korean.” You tell him in English.

His eyes light up and he switches over, “Careful.” Jungkook says, smiling. A bit dazed from being so close to an idol, one of your favorite idols, it takes you a minute to gather your feet under you so you can stand on your own. His arms are still around you, holding you steady and at this point you’re not sure if you should step away or if that would be rude.

“I’m so glad you came, I was worried you wouldn’t.” He continues excitedly as the others surround you. “But here you are, did you have to wait long? Thank you for waiting.”

“Jungkook-ie. Calm down, let her breathe.” Yoongi says, his voice even and calm compared to Jungkook’s.

“Right, of course, hyung.” He says and releases you.

“I, um, thanks for inviting me. But, er, why did you invite me?” You ask, taking half a step back so you can see them better. You wonder if your heart rate will go back to normal after this night, because right now it’s racing wildly, beating against your rib cage as if it’s trying to escape.

Suddenly, Hoseok is standing directly in front of you, cupping your too hot face in his warm hands and staring into your eyes. He smiles brightly, “You looked so nervous when we tried to have you sing with us. We wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh.” Your answer comes out as a squeak when arms wrap around you from behind. “Erm, thank you. I just, I get nervous?” You explain.

He nods, and you can feel whoever is behind you put their head on your shoulder. You think you should probably move away - they are very close - but you’d be lying to yourself if you said you weren’t enjoying the casual contact.

“What’s your name?” You flick your eyes toward the speaker, face still in Hoseok’s hands. Seokjin is looking at you with his head tilted to the side slightly, as if he’s studying you.

“It’s, it’s” you hesitate and lick your lips, “It’s (y/n).”

“Do you need anything, (y/n)? You must have been waiting a while.” The person behind you asks.

Hoseok releases your face and you turn just enough to see that it’s Jimin behind you. “I’m okay” you assure, right before your stomach growls loudly enough for the entire room to hear. The guys all laugh, and you join them, finding their laughter contagious. Your laugh is a bit tense, but thankfully no one comments, and you relax a fraction.

“Let’s eat.” Hoseok says taking your hand like it’s the most natural thing in the world and leading you to the table.

You watch in a bit of a daze as Taehyung and Namjoon argue over which food to put on the plate they insisted on getting for you. Your hand is still in Hoseok’s and you’re trying to decide if you should pull away. Not because you don’t like it, but because you do. Holding his hand is comforting and normal and feels like something you’ve been doing forever. Before you can think about it too much, he’s leading you back to the couches. He tilts his head toward the couch, telling you to sit and you comply. He moves to follow, but before he can sit, Jimin and Yoongi slide in on either side of you.

I’m dreaming, you think to yourself bemusedly, This is a crazy wonderful dream and I don’t think I want to wake up.

You’re not sure how much time passes while you’re with them - you stopped looking at your phone some time ago - but you know it’s getting late and your friend is probably waiting up for you. You’ve been enjoying spending time with everyone and your nerves at being in the same room as celebrities slowly vanished as you realized they really weren’t that different from you. Aside from the singing. And dancing. And being famous…

“Thank you all so much, I’ve really enjoyed, well, everything, but I should get going. My friend is probably worried sick and waiting for me.” You say when the conversation lulls and smile a little when they make noises of despair.

You know they’re acting more upset than they really are, but your heart still flutters a little at the thought that they actually enjoyed spending time with you. Checking your phone, you see that its’ dead, “This is-” you sigh, “can I borrow a phone to call a cab?”

“Oh! We’ll take you! We have to get to our hotel too. Where are you staying?” Jungkook asks suddenly.

You think quickly, you only have a bit of cash left on you, not wanting to bring too much to the concert - just in case. It’s enough for a taxi, probably, but not having to spend it would be nice. Besides, you want to hang out with them more, even if it’s just for the short ride to the hotel. You tell him where you’re staying with your friend and startle slightly when he shouts, “But that’s where we’re staying!”

“Really?” You know the hotel you’re staying at isn’t awful, but it’s definitely not the place you’d expect international stars to stay.

They exchange glances, then Seokjin smiles answering your unspoken question, “There was a mix up. We actually have rooms in a different hotel set up for next week.”

“Oh…” you draw the word out, “that makes sense. I suppose.” You bite your lip, “In that case, I accept. If we’re all going to the same place anyways…”

They cheer, and you laugh at their exuberance, so different from just moments ago.

Someone makes a call or presses a button or something, because within minutes there’s a knock on the door and you’re all escorted out a back door and into a waiting limo. It’s one of the SUV ones and you close your mouth with a snap when you see just how big and luxurious it is on the inside. Once more you seem to be in the middle of everything, only this time it’s Namjoon’s hand on your knee and Taehyung’s arm around your shoulders and you’re certain you’ll have to make an appointment with a cardiologist after this.

You’ve seen RUN BTS videos and their vlives and pictures and you know they are rather physically affectionate with each other, but you didn’t think the behavior extended to outsiders as well.

The ride to the hotel is quiet, but not uncomfortably so. You wonder if their seemingly boundless energy is beginning to wane. In contrast, you feel wired. There’s a chance it’s from how overtired you are, but you suspect it’s really from being around the members of your favorite kpop group. Maybe a combination of both.

You don’t have time to think too hard about why your heart continues to jump every time one of them meets your gaze, because you’re pulling up in front of the hotel and everyone is getting out. You stop in the lobby and a pang of sadness goes off in your chest. Your eyes follow the driver as he walks off to talk to someone at the front desk- not wanting to look directly at any of the guys.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye. Thank you all so much. I had,” you pause and look down, forcing yourself to smile through the odd sense of hurt, “I had so much fun. This is, without a doubt, the best night of my life. Thank you.”

You lift your hand in a wave and turn not wanting to linger, but someone catches your wrist. You turn your head, seeing that Jungkook has you and he’s smiling, “At least let us walk you to your room. It’s late.”

You laugh softly and roll your eyes, “Because hotel hallways are so dangerous at this time of night?” You tease.

“You never know what kind of people are wandering the halls.” Yoongi agrees, taking something from the driver and putting it in his pocket with a small smile playing around his lips.

“Well, if you insist. I’m on the second floor.” You tell them happily and lead the way to the elevator. If they really wanted to walk up with you, even if it was out of some sense of chivalry, you weren’t going to argue.

The ride to your floor is as quiet as the ride to the hotel had been, but much shorter. As you walk down the hall, you turn back to see them all trailing behind you and stifle a giggle at the image of ducklings that pops into your exhaustion fueled mind. Room 223 comes into view all too quickly.

“Well, once again, I suppose this is it. This is my room. Where I’m staying.” You ramble as they surround you in a loose half circle.

You’re feeling around your pockets, searching for your room key, “So, yeah. Um. Great night. And, and good night. And, shit.”

“What’s wrong?” One of them asks, but you’re not sure who because you’re looking down at your key-less hand.

“I don’t have my room key.” You pout.

“Can you knock? Your friend is inside.”

Your head pops up and you turn to knock on the door. You wait.

And wait.

You knock again and wait some more.

You knock a third time, loud enough to hurt your knuckles and probably wake the occupants of the other room. Still, you hear nothing from the other side.

“Can I borrow a phone?” One is thrust over your shoulder and you toss back a soft ‘thanks’ before quickly dialing your friend.

You press your free ear against the door and hear her phone going off on the other side. You stay on until her voicemail picks up. You try one more time, only to get her voicemail again. “Okay. Well. I’ll just go back to the front desk and get a spare.”

“Or you could just come with us.” Jimin says.

You blink, “As in, to your room? And, what?”

“Hang out.” Hoseok says, taking your hand. “Are you really ready to sleep?”

You tilt your head, considering his question. No, you really were’t ready to sleep. You probably wouldn’t sleep for days at this point. Not until your body gave out.

“No. I guess not. Okay. Sure. Why not?” You agree.

“Wonderful!” He says with a sunny smile you can’t help but return before he’s leading you back onto the elevator.

“What floor are you on?” You ask in general. You notice them shifting and turn to see them all looking at each other, “Do you not know?”

“Uh, seven.” Yoongi finally says, looking down at a key card and the others nod.

“Seven?” You giggle. They look at you curiously and you giggle more, “It’s just, you’re on the seventh floor, there are seven- nevermind.” You say and shake your head as you press the button for their floor.

A thought suddenly occurs to you, “Where’s, like, your manager? Or bodyguards? You have those, don’t you?”

“Our manager is probably sleeping already and guards, we don’t really need them to stand outside our doors.” Jin says.

“Oh. Okay.” You agree, because, really, what do you know? Besides, they’re all adults. It’s not like they need someone watching them all the time.

On the seventh floor, Yoongi takes the lead, and you all stop in front of room 703. You watch him approach the door with a single room key in his hand. No one else has pulled out a key, all watching Yoongi instead.

“Are you all in the same room?” You ask, slightly horrified at the thought of seven people sleeping in one room, even if there are two beds.

“Ah, no. There are three rooms.” He says and looks at you over his shoulder, hand still on the door.

“We all want to stay together. It’s hard to do that in separate rooms.” Namjoon says, mouth close to your ear. You shiver a bit as his warm breath hits the side of your neck. You hadn’t realized he’d gotten so close. “At least until we’re ready to sleep.”

“Oh. Um, right. Of course.” They start to walk into the room, and you find yourself frozen in the hall. The implications of being found in a room with these particular 7 men rising to the forefront of your mind. “This…. is okay, right? No one will, um, get in trouble?”

“Nervous?” Namjoon asks, still behind you. He wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you into his warm chest, “Don’t worry, we won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Okay then.” Your voice is a bit breathy, but you don’t think he notices as you both walk into the room.

It’s large, two beds off to one side, a small sitting area with a mini fridge in a very small bar closer to you. A large window takes up most of the wall near the beds and you pull away from him to look out at all the lights. You place one hand against the cool glass, close your eyes, and let your forehead fall forward gently until it meets glass. You stay like that long enough to gather your thoughts and get your bearings. It was a lot to take in. Meeting them and almost immediately after, spending the night with them. Even if nothing happened… it was a lot for your poor heart.

After a few deep breaths, you open your eyes and step back. You can see everyone’s reflections in the window and can’t stop your smile at the picture it makes. You wish your phone wasn’t dead so you can take more.

“Does anyone have a spare charger? Sorry for asking, but since mine is in my room…” you glance around and don’t notice the looks they’re exchanging. “Where are your bags?”

“Probably in one of the other rooms.” Taehyung is quick to say.

“We’ll look for a charger in a bit. Come, sit down.” He says as he takes you by the shoulders and directs you to one of the beds, completely ignoring the two chairs and couch. He pushes you gently until you sit.

“Do you want a drink?” Namjoon asks as he walks toward the bar.

“Sure.” You shrug and try to stand, but Tae’s hands, still on your shoulders stop you.

“I’ll get it.” He says moving away.

Once everyone has a drink, they settle on the beds and you move back so you can see them all, pressing against the headboard and crossing your legs.

“What do you do, (y/n)?” Jin asks. Yoongi fiddles with his phone and soft music starts playing.

“Like, for work or?” You take a sip of the drink Tae has pressed into your hand and hum your appreciation. “This is good. Thank you.” Namjoon smiles at your compliment and you look back at Jin who nods, “I’m a student, mostly.”

“Exchange student.” Jungkook says with a nod, “How long will you be in Korea?”

“Ah. No. Not an exchange student. Um. I kind of live here now? I’ve only been here a few months.” You pause trying decide how much you should disclose, but they’re all watching you so intently, as if hanging on your every word… you shake your head to clear the silly thoughts.

“My aunt, she wanted someone to stay at her place while she travels, and I wanted to travel for school. So, this seemed like the best solution for both of us.”

The alcohol in your drink seeps into your veins, warming and relaxing you as the night goes on. At some point, someone knocks on the door and delivers a charger for your phone. Once it turns back on, you take more pictures with each of them in turn, and one as a group, all squished close together on the bed so everyone is in the frame. The eight of you talk and laugh the hours away and night slowly begins to turn to dawn and soon you’re yawning with your head on Tae’s shoulder and your feet in Jungkook’s lap.

Tae bends his head and kisses your temple, making you smile. “Sleep, babe.”

You shake your head but close your eyes anyways. “No point in it now. We have to leave in a couple hours. Literally.” You say yawning again.

“We’ll make sure you get back to your room before your friend leaves.” Namjoon assures you.

“If you’re sure…” you sigh feeling Tae pull you closer to him. “Just- I’ll just close my eyes for a minute…”

-0-0-0-

You’re moving.

That’s the first thing you notice.

The second is that you’re definitely not moving on your own, but you’re still too tired to really care.

The third is that whatever is moving you is warm and smells good.

“Mmm.” You hum and rub your nose closer to the scent. The smaller, slightly more awake, part of your brain tells you that you know this smell. The larger, sleepier part tells you to just enjoy it. You hear voices but can’t understand what they’re saying. You rub your face closer to the wonderful smell again and hear someone chuckle.

Suddenly, you stop moving and you hear a knock on a door. You’re more awake now. Awake enough to realize that you’re being carried on someone’s back. Immediately, you begin squirming, trying to get down.

“Stop. Stop moving. I don’t want to drop you.” Jungkook says and you gasp.

“You can put me down! I can walk!” You say, but he just tightens his hands on your thighs.

“You just woke up. Give it a- hello!” He says.

You look away from his profile to see your friend staring at - you glance around and see everyone has come down - staring at all of you in the hallway.

“We just wanted to make sure (y/n) got back safe.” He says and slowly loosens his grip on you until you’re sliding down his back. Once your feet touch the ground, he turns and places his hands on your shoulders.

“Goodbye, we’ll talk again. Soon.” He promises and leans in to kiss your cheek.

Each of them in turn says goodbye with a hug or small kiss on the cheek. Namjoon’s lips seem to linger just a bit longer than the others, but you’re not completely sure because your mind is still fuzzy from just waking up then being hugged and kissed by each member of BTS.

When they step away, you raise your hand and wave, “B-bye guys. I had a wonderful time. I’ll never forget it.”

Jimin winks at you and grins, “Don’t worry, we don’t plan to let you. See you around baby.”

You and your friend watch them walk away. Once they are out of sight, you turn to look at her and you’re not sure who’s more dazed.

“Oh. My. God. What. Did I. Miss?!” She ends on a shriek and pulls you into the hotel room.

“I don’t- I’m not-” you pause and pat yourself down, finding your phone in your pocket, you sigh in relief when you pull it out and see it’s fully charged.

“I have pictures!” You show her the phone proudly. Before you can unlock it, it begins to vibrate. When you see the seven different notifications in your messenger, you laugh happily.

Their numbers, they gave you their numbers.

Chapter Text

Beep! Beep! Beep!

You groan and throw your arm out from under the covers, hitting the alarm clock to stop the incessant beeping. Blinking slowly, you let your eyes adjust to the still dark room. A warm body is pressed close, and for a brief moment, you’re transported back to that hotel room…. but then your friend kicks you under the covers and you wince from the force behind it.

Scowling, you push back against her, “Wake up”

“Mmm, five more minutes.” She groans and buries her face in her pillow.

You shake her arm, “Come on. We have to get to the airport and I still have class…” you whine and push her harder, “and you just had to get an early morning flight on a weekday.”

She turns and glares at you balefully, “It. Was. Cheaper.”

“Then get up so you don’t miss it.” You shoot back and use your feet to push her harder.

She grabs onto you and the bed to keep herself from falling. “Okay! Okay! Up! I’m getting up!”

“I call first shower!” You say, jumping out of bed.

“Not fair!” She calls after you, but you’re both laughing.

By the time you get out, she has coffee waiting, and by the time she’s ready, you’ve made breakfast. You’re looking down at your phone when she walks in and you quickly set it face down on the table.

“So, still haven’t heard from them?” She asks you as she sits.

You shake your head, “No, but I haven’t tried to contact them again either.” You shrug and sip at your coffee, “Plus, I’m sure they’re busy all the time and I don’t want to bother them, you know?”

“Hmm, I guess. I just thought…” she trails off and pushes some food around on her plate, “Well, phones work both ways and, who knows? Maybe they’re really busy, like you said.”

You nod your agreement and the two of you finish breakfast talking about inconsequential things until it’s time to leave.

The ride to the airport is quiet. Even though you knew at the beginning of her stay that she’d have to leave, part of you still isn’t ready for it. Between your aunt traveling and your best friend going home, you were going to be alone for the upcoming break. You’re just starting to talk yourself into asking her to extend her stay when you pull up to the airport.

You both get out and you pull her into a hug. She promises to call, and you promise to Skype and she’s walking away as you get back in the car. You turn your head and wipe your tears with the back of your hand, hoping the driver doesn’t see.

The rest of your day feels longer than usual. In fact, you’re pretty sure you’ve been in this hour lecture for five hours, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Your thoughts keep wandering, making it hard to pay attention to anything your professor is droning on about. Just as you’re about to slip into another daydream about dark eyes and the sounds of laughter, your phone buzzes against your thigh.

You have a quick debate with yourself about whether or not you can get away with pulling it out in class and if it’s worth it. The single vibration tells you it’s a notification and not a call, so it was probably nothing… then again, it could have been your friend, stuck in a foreign country on her layover with only enough battery to send you a text for help….

Discreetly, you slip your phone from your pocket and glance down. It definitely wasn’t your friend. You’ve been invited to join a chat room with seven others. You grin and swipe your confirmation.

(Y/N) has joined the chatroom

Before you get a chance to so much as glance at the messages that start pouring in, someone clears their throat. You glance up to see the person next to you darting their eyes down and to the side. Reluctantly, you follow their gaze and see the professor looking up at you. You smile nervously as your face heats and put your phone on silent, slipping it back into your pocket. Still, you can’t quite get the silly grin on your face to go away for the rest of the day.

Once home, you gratefully set all your stuff on the living room table, change into pajamas and settle on the couch before finally, finally, checking your phone. The number in the little red notification bubble has you blinking rapidly.

346 messages.

Admittedly, you’d been in group chats that generated more, but those had 10 or more people, not 7, or, well, 8 now. As you scroll through the messeges, you giggle. Everything had started fine, with each member greeting you right after you joined the group. You blush a bit at Namjoon calling you ‘princess’ and a feeling of giddiness sweeps through you at Jimin’s ‘baby’, but it quickly deteriorates from there when you’d gone hours without responding. By the time you’re caught up, you are squirming in your seat, feeling slightly guilty for leaving them wondering about your presence. Jin had even accused the others of scaring you off. You chew your lip, thinking about the best way to respond before deciding to just go for it.

You: Hey everyone

You: Sorry I didn’t respond earlier! I was in class and got caught on my phone.

Jungkook: You’re here!

Hoseok: Hello!

Jin: Hello!

Joon: Hey princess

Yoongi: Hey

Tae: Hey babe

Jimin: Glad you’re back!

Their responses come quickly, one after the other. Each message is accompanied by a ding from your phone and you turn the sound off, already knowing if you don’t, you’ll go mad.

You: Wait, why are you all in the chatroom? Aren’t you together?

Joon: off days. We went home for a couple days. We will be back at the dorm tonight.

You: Oh, okay Again, I’m sorry I didn’t respond earlier.

Joon: No need to apologize princess, education is important.

Jungkook: (Y/N), are you free tomorrow? We miss you.

Jimin: Yeah, we miss our girl. It’s been sooooo long.

You: It’s only been five days.

Tae: Baby, you’re breaking our hearts. Are you saying you don’t miss us?

You: Of course I miss you guys.

You briefly consider telling them you have the next week off but shake your head to clear it of the thought. You don’t want them to think…well, you’re not sure what they’d think.

You: I have some free time tomorrow?

Jin: Tomorrow is perfect. We can have the whole day.

Hoseok: We can spend the day together.

Jungkook: Yeah! It’ll be so much fun! You’ll never wanna leave!

Joon: Jungkook.

Jungkook: Hyung. Please (Y/N) will you spend tomorrow with us? We can pick you up first thing in the morning.

You: Well, I have an early class, but then I’m free for the rest of the day.

You: What do you have in mind?

Hoseok: We could go to the dance studio. We have practice.

Yoongi: We’re working on new stuff.

Jin: We can even do lunch, I’ll cook.

You’re glad you’re alone, because even without looking at your reflection, you know you have a goofy smile plastered across your face. They actually want to hang out with you! You shift happily on the couch before something else occurs to you, popping a hole in the bubble of excitement that’s been building in your chest.

You: I’d love to spend the day with you guys.

You: As long as you’re sure it won’t cause any problems with your managers or BigHit.

Hoseok: Sweetheart, it won’t cause any problems at all.

Jungkook: They already know all about you!

You: They do? Why would they know about me?

You: Did you guys get in trouble from last time?

You: Shit, I don’t wanna cause any problems.

Joon: Jungkook! No baby, what Jungkook meant was that we told them we wanted to bring a guest to the studio. It’s all cleared through them. That’s all.

Jungkook: Right. Sorry (Y/N). Didn’t mean to worry you.

You: Okay. I’m glad you didn’t get in trouble. My class ends at 10.

You: I should get to bed soon, it’s already late and I have to get up early.

You: So… see you tomorrow?

Jungkook: Goodnight!!!

Joon: Night, princess.

Tae: See you tomorrow babe.

Hoseok: Until tomorrow sweetheart.

Jin: Goodnight (Y/N)

Jimin: Sweet dreams baby.

Yoongi: Goodnight baby girl.

-0-0-0-

You keep glancing at the clock urging time to move faster. You’d hardly been able to sleep the night before, and all morning time seemedt o drag. As if it had slowed down just for you.

You can’t stop the nervous fluttering inside your stomach as you anxiously drum your fingers on the desk. The girl next to you shoots you an annoyed glance and you smile awkwardly as you move your hand off the desk. When you feel your phone vibrate, you discreetly pull it out of your pocket to see what it says. When you see the message, you almost sigh with relief. Even though they had assured you just that morning that they would be picking you up, a very large and convincing part of you was sure it was all fake or that something would come up and they would have to bail.

Joon: Princess, we’re outside in the black SUV.

You bolt out of your seat as soon as class is dismissed and make your way to the parking lot as quickly as possible, all but skipping in your excitement. You see a black SUV parked close to the curb and you recognize Namjoon, even with his hat and the mask covering half of his face, standing next to the passenger door.

You stop short just before you reach him, unsure what to do. Namjoon, however, doesn’t seem to have any concerns as he scoops you up into a tight hug. You’re a little caught off guard at first, but don’t hesitate to hug him back.

“Missed you princess.” His voice is warm in your ear and you shiver slightly at the huskiness of it.

“I missed you guys too.” You say and then laugh nervously, “That’s weird isn’t it? We hung out for one night and yet I still miss you all.”

“Not weird. I’m glad you missed us too.”

You hide your smile in his shoulder, since he still hasn’t let you go, then glance around him to try and see who is in the passenger seat. The windows are too dark for you to see clearly, but you smile brightly at whoever is there and let go of Namjoon to go to the back seat before he stops you.

“I need to get into my seat Joon, someone is bound to recognize you guys sooner or later.” You glance around and realize you’re already drawing attention.

“Yeah,” Namjoon chuckles and steps away from the car, still holding you against him, “about that. See this SUV only seats 8 and there are 7 of us, plus the driver. So, you gotta sit on someone’s lap.”

You pull away enough to look up at him, “Is that even legal?”

He lets you go and waves off your concern. “It’s fine.”

You narrow your eyes, but don’t argue the point any further as the back-door swings open revealing everyone. Jin, Jimin, and Hoseok are in the middle seat with Tae, Jungkook, and Yoongi behind them. They all call out greetings and you raise your hand to wave at them, only feeling a little shy.

“So… where am I sitting then?”

“Jin won rock, paper, scissors so you’re on his lap.” Joon says and takes your bag.

“You mean lost rock paper scissors.” You give Jin an apologetic smile.

Jin smiles and pulls you onto his lap, earning him a small squeak of surprise from you. “No, no. I definitely won.”

His long arms wrap loosely around your waist. Without thinking, you start to lean back against him, but stop yourself and stiffen in his hold.

“So,” your voice comes out slightly higher than normal and you clear your throat, “wha- what’s the plan for today?”

“We have dance practice for a bit, but don’t worry, they order lunch.” Hoseok says, leaning around Jimin so he can see you.

You startle slightly when Jin’s hand moves from your waist to your back and begins lightly running up and down. You lean into the motion, enjoying the feel of his long fingers running up and down your spine. “That sounds fun!”

“For you maybe.”

You look over your shoulder at Yoongi’s grumble, “For me? Oh, I suppose it’s a lot of work for you. But I know your fans really appreciate it!” You finish with a bright smile, both trying to cover up your nerves and cheer him up.

“And what about you? Do you appreciate it too?”

Joon is watching you intensely from the front seat, more intensely than you think the question warrants.

“Me? Uh,” you pause and lick your lips, mouth suddenly dry. His eyes flick down, then back up to meet yours.

“I um, yeah. Of course. If I could dance like you all, then I’d probably dance all the time. Well, maybe not all the time. But a lot of the time but I can’t, I can’t really, dance.”

You feel you face heat and lean back, subconsciously trying to shield yourself from your own awkwardness with Jin’s larger body. He wraps both arms around you while resting his chin on your shoulder. You feel surrounded and it’s… comforting.

“We could teach you.” Jungkook is leaning forward, large hands gripping the back of the seat in front of him. “If you wanted to learn.”

“Really? You’d teach me?”

Next to you, Jimin brushes his fingers along the back of your hand before tangling his fingers with yours, drawing your attention to him. His rings are cool against your heated skin, and for a second you worry about how your hand is too hot in his, but you don’t pull away either. He’s smiling happily at you, and you can’t help but return it.

“If you want to learn, of course we’ll help you. It will be fun.”

His eyes seem to almost… sparkle, when he says it, but you decide it was probably the sun. Before anyone can say, or do, anything else, you’re pulling up to a tall, blue windowed, building. Joon gets out first and opens your door, holding his hand out to you as he does so. Jin nuzzles his nose against the side of your neck before releasing you.

Your hand slides out of Jimin’s slowly and you take Joon’s hand to balance yourself as you step out of the SUV. The rest of them immediately follow and before you can take more than a couple steps, they surround you in a loose circle. Joon is still holding one of your hands, and Jungkook takes the other.

“You know, I can walk on my own. I know how to use my own two feet and everything.” You tease.

“Are we making you uncomfortable?”

You pause mid-step as you consider Joon’s question. Were they making you uncomfortable? Yes. But not in a bad way. More in a ‘I can’t believe I’m casually hanging out with international superstars’ sort of way.

You refocus and realize they are all staring at you. You grin and shake your head, “No. You’re not. It’s- it’s rather nice, actually.”

Their answering smiles are dazzling, and you walk into the building after that in a bit of a daze.

-0-0-0-

The dance studio, practice room, whatever, is much larger than you anticipated. Sure, you’d known they had moved to a larger area, but seeing it on screen and seeing it in person were two completely different things.

“Wow…” you draw the word out and your voice echoes in the mostly empty room. On one wall, there’s a long mirror, off to the side is a small platform already holding a camera, in addition to the camera that is in the middle of the mirror wall.

“Do you want to come in, or will you stand in the door the whole time?” Tae asks, his voice right in your ear, breath tickling your neck. His warm hands settle on your waist as he moves closer, until his chest is pressing against your back. This time, you don’t jump or twitch away from the touch.

“I was going. It’s just, much bigger than I expected.” You confess. He chuckles and says something you can’t catch under his breath. You felt, more than heard, the sound with how close he was. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Let’s go in.” He steps forward, still pressed against you, and moves you with him. “The dance instructor is going to get impatient.”

“Oh, right. Um, speaking of that, where should I sit?”

He turns you both toward the platform with the camera, “You can sit here. I’d say you can sit by the mirrors, but maybe for a different dance. Hobi can get a little…” He pauses, and his long fingers clench your sides as he considers his words, you tilt your head back to look up at him. His eyes are wide and staring, but you swear you can almost see the thoughts moving behind his eyes. Suddenly, he nods, refocusing on you as his hands loosen, “Wild. Hobi can get wild.”

“I won’t bother the crew?” You bite your lip nervously and glance back at where you’re supposed to sit. “I don’t want to be in anyone’s way.”

You’re not looking, so you can’t be sure, but it feels as if he just sniffed your hair and you’re glad you used your favorite smelling shampoo that morning.

“It’s fine. They won’t mind at all.” He says and releases you with a little push. “Sit. Make yourself comfortable.”

You perch yourself on the stage and when you look back out at the floor, everyone has filed in. Seconds after, others who you assume are the instructors and production crew, follow making their way to where you are. Nervous now, you stand and hold up a hand as they approach.

“(Y/N), it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Finally?” You whisper as you shake hands and are introduced to the others, all who seem to know you by name. When you’re done with the small meet and greet that was more greet than meet, you glance at the guys.

However, they are all in the process of warming up and seem to be purposefully not looking in your direction. You shrug it off and sit back down, shifting a little as the excitement of what’s about to happen settles in.

Hours pass. So many, that you’re beginning to wonder how they haven’t collapsed in exhaustion. The music pumping through the speakers is loud and, if you hadn’t already had all their songs memorized, you’d definitely have at least 5 of them burned into your memory now. During breaks they had come and chatted while panting and drinking more water then you thought physically possible. You’d posed for a few pictures with them and made sure they sent them to you in turn.

Both Hoseok and Jimin had asked when you were going to come and dance, but you’d declined, not quite ready to try anything close to the moves they were pulling off. The last time, Hoseok had made you promise to let him show you a few moves soon and you agreed, even as your stomach erupted in butterflies at the very thought.

Finally, the instructor tells them they’re done, and you can’t stop your laugh when they all just… drop, as if their strings had been cut. It had been so unexpected, you had no time to hold back your reaction. The crew laughs with you and shakes their heads at the guys as they make their way out.

“You were amazing!” You shout and clap.

“Thanks. Baby.” Jimin pants out and raises his arm, giving you a thumbs up, before his arm falls heavily to his side.

Still seated, you wait for the guys to move, but when they continue to lay on the cool floor, you stand and walk over to them, unsure what to do. As you move among them, one by one, they start to sit up. Their groans are loud in the now quiet room as they move around until only Tae is still laying down. You make your way to him; his eyes are closed and his breathing looks steadier than it had moments before. You look around and see the others gathering their things and wiping down with towels. Turning back, you nudge him with your foot. “Are you sleeping?”

“Can’t move.” He mumbles and cracks his eyes open. “Help me up?”

You roll your eyes and grin but hold out your hand. He grasps your hand tightly and before you can try and pull him up, he’s pulling you down.

“Ah!” You cry out as you land on top of him with a thud. “Ooohhh….”

You wince when you make contact with him, his hard body ungiving against your own, much softer, one. You squirm as you try and roll off. He grunts beneath you and locks his arms behind your back, keeping you from moving. “Don’t move so much. Everything hurts.”

You gasp and pull your head back enough to see his face “It’s your fault! You pulled me down!”

He grins and winks, “Worth it though.”

You feel your mouth fall open, but no sound comes out as his hands shift - one cradling your head and one lower on your back - and he flips you both. You blink rapidly, still processing what happened when he leans in and presses a kiss to your forehead. “Come on lazy. Everyone is waiting.”

He bounces up to his feet as if he hasn’t just spent hours dancing and holds his hand out to you. Still slightly stunned from what just happened, you grab his hand and let him pull you up. He keeps your hand as you make your way to the others.

You look down at your feet as you approach, this has been an amazing day, but you can see how tired they are and know that your day with them is at an end, “This has been really fun, but, I should probably-”

“Get dinner? That’s what we were just thinking.” Jin cuts you off before you can finish. “I know I said we’d cook, but do you mind if we order in?”

“Of course not.” You tell him reflexively, “But are you sure I shouldn’t go home? You must be tired.”

“We’re fine!” Jungkook assures you. “Besides, you haven’t even seen our apartment yet. And I thought we were spending the whole day together? It’s not even late. Please?”

Internally, you jump for joy at his words, outwardly, you nod your consent and follow them back out to the waiting vehicle. This time, you end up in Tae’s lap, his hands on your thighs as you rest your head against his chest. His shirt is still slightly damp, but it doesn’t keep you from relaxing against him. However, you try and discreetly hide your nose in your sleeve. The smell of 7 men who had just finished working out is a bit overpowering in the SUV. In front of you, the driver cracks his window and you briefly meet his eyes in the side mirror. He winks at you and you give him a grateful smile. The ride is mostly quiet, the only noises are the ones emitting softly from the radio and Yoongi’s soft rumble as he talks into the phone.

The ride to their place doesn’t seem to take as long as the ride to the studio had. You’re not sure if it’s because it’s actually closer or if it’s because you’re not vibrating with nerves this time, but either way, you’re exiting the car and walking into the large building within moments. The doorman eyes you as the eight of you walk in, and you hesitate, making Hoseok run into you.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, hands on your shoulders to keep you steady after your collision.

“Are you sure I should be here? The doorman looks like he’s about to kick me out.”

You’re watching the man, so you don’t see what Hoseok does, but you feel his hands tighten briefly as he steps closer. The man nods once and stares at you a long moment before looking away.

“Everything’s fine. He just didn’t recognize you.” Hoseok says as he lets go of you, “Let’s get up, I bet dinner will be here soon.”

You nod and follow them to the elevator. “This seems familiar.” You say as the doors close.

Joon nods, “Like our first night together.”

You meet his eyes, remembering how that night ended. Your eyes are still locked with his when the elevator stops, and you break eye contact with him while trying to convince your heart to stop racing. They all but herd you down the short hall to their door.

“Welcome home!” Jungkook says and takes your hand, pulling you inside. Instantly, the men around you seem to relax as they step inside their place and it’s at that moment that you realize how on guard they’ve been all day. Not that you blame them, with cameras watching their every move…

“We all need to shower; do you mind waiting out here?” Joon asks you and waves a hand toward the couch.

“Not at all. Just do what you need to do.” You assure him and pull your hand from Jungkook’s. You take a couple steps when someone grabbing your arm stops you. You turn to see Yoongi much closer than you expected and take half a step back, so you can see him clearly. “Yes?”

“If the food comes while we are gone, can you set it in the kitchen?” He asks and points toward the kitchen with his free hand. You nod, and his dark eyes search your face for a second before he nods as well and lets you go. The others have already gone, and you watch as he retreats down one of the halls before sitting on the couch to wait.

They come back out shortly after the food arrives and gather around the dining table, dressed in sweats and t-shirts. You swallow back your jealousy at how comfy they look while you’re still in jeans and a nice blouse. And, while not entirely uncomfortable, they weren’t exactly clothes to lounge around in either.

“Is something wrong?”

You look at Hoseok sitting across from you at the low table and grin nervously. You hadn’t been as successful as you thought at hiding your looks of longing, it seems.

“I’m fine.” You assure him. When he continues to stare, you swallow thickly and try to explain further, “You all just look so comfortable. I wish I’d brought a change of clothes.”

“Do you want something else to wear?” Jin asks you, his brow furrowed in concern.

“Oh! No, that’s not-” you stop yourself and take a breath, “I’m fine. Thank you though.”

He looks at you a moment longer before shrugging and looking away. Slowly, conversation around you swells. You can’t follow the conversation, but occasionally you think you catch a word or two, though it’s hard to be sure with how rapidly they are talking to each other in Korean. Besides, most of your attention is on the plate of meat in front of you. The pieces are round and covered in sauce, making you hesitant to try and pick one up with your chopsticks. So far, you had ignored them, but the smell was teasing you and now there was only one piece left on the plate in front of you. Finally, you give in. Carefully, you pick the piece up, bring it close, and that’s when it happens. Someone must have said something funny, because around you everyone is laughing and Tae bumps into you, jostling your arm and breaking your tenuous hold. You watch as the piece falls, almost in slow motion, and lands first on your chest, then rolls down to stop on your lap.

“Oh no!” You cry out, more in disappointment at dropping the piece than your dirty clothing. Silence falls, and you look up - face already warming - to see them all staring at you. “Sorry.”

Tae shakes his head, “I’m sorry. It was my fault.”

He looks so uncomfortable, you can’t help but feel bad. You place your hand on his arm, “It’s okay. If I was better at using chopsticks, it wouldn’t have happened. It was an accident.” You assure him and run your hand up and down his arm in what you think is a soothing motion.

He nods at your words, but his eyes dart to the side. You think he must still feel bad and here you are, drawing more attention to the situation. You pull your hand back and stand, “Well, I’m going to clean up. Do you have a towel I can wipe this off with?”

Jin stands with you and you follow him out. You only hesitate for half a moment when he passes by the kitchen, before deciding he’s probably showing you to one of the bathrooms. You pass a few closed doors you assume lead to other bedrooms before he stops in front of one and opens it, standing to the side so you can enter first.

“Is this your room?” You ask when you see the beds.

He nods and waves a hand toward one of them, “Wait here?”

You sit, more curious about what he’s up to than getting clean now. He disappears behind another door and you look around, trying to pretend to yourself that you’re not insanely curious about Jin and Yoongi’s room. He doesn’t make you wait long before he returns with a bundle of clothing. He holds them out to you, and you accept them before you can fully think it through.

“Here, you can just change into these. Come back out when you’re done?” He says and moves to leave.

“Wait!” You call after him, but he’s already closed the door and left. “These won’t fit.” You grumble to yourself. “I just wanted a towel…”

Still, you stand and change. You’re not surprised to find that the shirt - already big on Jin’s large frame - engulfs you, hanging off one shoulder and falling almost to your knees. The sweats fit a little better. Surprisingly, you only have to roll them a few times at the waist and you assume he raided his roommate’s side of the closet.

Redressed, you fold your clothes and slowly make your way back to them. You set your folded clothes next to the door, so you won’t forget them later and return to the dining room.

They all stop talking and look up at you. You bite your lip and shuffle back to your spot. Slowly conversation resumes, and you start to relax again. You’re glancing around for your chopsticks when a pair appear in front of your face holding a piece of what you had tried, and failed, to eat before. You follow the arm to see Tae smiling down at you.

“This isn’t the piece that fell on the floor, is it?” You ask.

He shakes his head, “No. Open up.”

You comply and try to take the food as gently as possible. You smile ruefully once you finish and tell him, “This is like lunch all over again.”

He shrugs, “This way, if we feed you again, you won’t accidentally ruin your clothes at least.”

You narrow your eyes, “I can feed myself!” You say, your voice indignant.

“Don’t be mad. He didn’t mean it like that.” Jungkook pleads from your other side, his eyes wide.

“Baby,” Tae’s deep voice sends a shiver through you and brings your attention back to him, “just let us take care of you.”

His head is canted down and he’s looking up at you from under the hair that’s fallen in his face. His eyes seem darker than they had moments before, and you find yourself quickly lost in them. You nod, lick your lips and swallow, trying to wet your suddenly dry throat. This time, when he holds something up for you to eat, you accept it without saying anything. He rewards you with a wide smile and your insides melt.

After that, they each take turns offering you something and as you finish dinner, you realize, you don’t want to leave.

Chapter Text

“We should watch a movie.” Jungkook says from his spot on the sofa. You look over to see him already looking at you. One of his arms is draped across Tae’s shoulders and the other is splayed out across the back of the couch.

“A movie? Are you sure?” You ask and glance at your phone. “It’s getting late… are you sure I shouldn’t head home? Let you all sleep?”

“We’re fine. We’re fine.” Hoseok assures you and gently squeezes your leg just above your knee. “It’s not that late.”

“Do you have class tomorrow?” Namjoon asks from your other side.

You look up at him and open your mouth to reply but hesitate. Something about the way he’s looking at you… eyebrow cocked, and one corner of his full lips lifted slightly… you suddenly have the feeling he already knows the answer. “No.”

His touch is soft as he strokes your cheek and stops against the corner of your mouth. “Then stay. Just until the movie is over. We’ll get someone to take you home.”

You blink, breaking the hold he has on you, “Um. Alright. Yeah.”

“What kind of movie do you want to watch (y/n)?” Jungkook asks as he moves in front of the entertainment center.

“Oh, I don’t care. Surprise me.”

Within minutes, you’re regretting your words. Not only did Jungkook turn out the lights as soon as he put in the movie, it’s also a horror movie. You, unfortunately, know the movie, though it’s not one you’d ever made it through. Nothing scary has happened yet, but next to you, Hoseok stiffens. You manage to hold yourself together for the first twenty minutes, but as soon as the backstory ends, and the horror begins, you grip the top of Hoseok’s hand. He shifts and flips his hand, slipping his long fingers between yours, and squeezes. You squeeze back just as tightly, glad for the comfort and grateful that you’re not the only one who needs it.

By the end of the first hour, you’re pressed close to his side and Yoongi has moved to sit on the floor in front of you, his back pressed against the couch and head resting between your knees.The woman on screen screams and you push your face into Hoseok’s shoulder. Suddenly, he releases your hand and you worry that somehow you’ve overstepped a boundary. Before you can pull away in embarrassment, he slips one arm around your shoulders and the other under your knees, scooping you up and placing you in his lap. The move is surprising and you stiffen, unsure about what you should do now.

“I’ll squish you.” You whisper right in his ear, not wanting to disturb the others who look to be completely focused on the movie. You mistake the distance in the dark room and your lips brush against the shell of his ear with each word. He shudders under you and you’re pretty sure it’s from the screams of terror that have started on screen again. You press closer against him for a moment in response.

“You won’t. Relax.” He says.

You think about protesting for half a second but give in quickly. The idea of feeling safe is more tempting than your worry of squishing him. You curl into him and his arms wrap around you, warm and comforting.

On the floor, Yoongi scrambles up to take your place on the couch before Namjoon can close the gap. He sits sideways, resting his head on your back and placing one hand on your thigh. Hoseok shifts slightly as Yoongi’s other arm settles across his shoulders. When he startles at something on the screen shortly after, you grab his hand, offering what small comfort you can. He rubs his cheek against your back in a silent thank you and you squeeze his fingers in return. Hoseok places his hand on top of both of yours and runs his thumb lightly over your joined hands.

You stay tangled up in the two of them for the rest of the movie. You’re no longer really watching, just enjoying the closeness, but the screams and maniacal laughing are hard to ignore. You shiver and press closer to Hoseok’s chest. His arms tighten, and he lays his cheek against the top of your head. Behind you, Yoongi moves closer, until he’s almost completely curled around the both of you.

Finally, finally, the end credits roll. The lights are still out and the only thing illuminating the room is the TV screen. No one talks for a moment, and with your face still buried in Hoseok’s chest, you’re not sure what they are doing either. Someone shifts, but they still remain silent. The air seems to thicken the longer you all go without talking. You wonder if you should move, but the men around you show no signs of letting you go just yet. After a few more long moments, you decide to break the oddly tense silence.

“Well, at least I don’t have class tomorrow because there is no way I’m sleeping tonight.” You finish with a nervous chuckle. “Speaking of sleeping, I should probably get going…”

You say the words but make no move to leave the safety and comfort of Hoseok and Yoongi’s arms, though, if your honest with yourself, you’re not sure if they’ll let you go just yet.

“There’s no need to rush off.” Namjoon says.

You twist enough to look at him, and he smiles, “If you’re not going to sleep anyways, we might as well watch another movie.” He turns and narrows his eyes at Jungkook, “Not a scary one this time.”

You bite your lip and look down at Yoongi’s hand still in your lap. You gently squeeze, and he squeezes back. “Are you sure? I mean, you’ve had a long day.”

“We’re sure.” Hoseok says and hugs you closer. “Stay.”

You hide your smile, you really weren’t ready to go home. Alone. You shiver, and he pulls you even tighter against him, something you hadn’t thought possible.

“I’ll make snacks.” Jin says and unfolds himself from the chair he had curled up in.

“Oh! Let me help Seokjin-oppa!” You call out after him and scramble out of Hoseok’s suddenly loose arms. “Since you’ve all been so nice, it’s the least I can- did I do something wrong?”

You had turned, ready to thank them again for their hospitality, only to find them all staring at you with wide-eyes. Tae’s mouth was open, and Jungkook’s eyes kept darting between you and Jin behind you.

“What?” You say and turn to face Jin.

Your mind goes blank at the look on his face. His pink lips are parted slightly, and his eyes are sparkling. He looks as if it’s Christmas morning and he’s just gotten everything he asked for. “You called me Oppa.”

“Erm…” you replay your words, and your face heats when you realize what you’ve done. “Right. Um that’s- that’s the polite thing, right? You’re older and- and hyung isn’t really correct for me and-” you stop and take a steadying breath. “I was just trying to be respectful. I realize I haven’t really-”

Jin’s hands fall heavily on your shoulders, silencing you. His hands are warm, warm, warm, and when he brushes his thumb across your exposed collarbone, you bite the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from reacting. “It’s okay, (y/n). You don’t have to. Though, you can call me Oppa anytime you want.” He finishes with a wink.

“Ah- um- thanks?”

“Do you still want to help me?” He asks, warm hands are still on your shoulders and his thumb is sweeping a path from the base of your neck, across your clavicle… You nod once, not trusting yourself to speak, then follow him into the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later you’re walking out with your arms full of popcorn bowls. Behind you, Jin has various bottles and cans that he sets on the coffee table. You hand out the bowls, keeping one for yourself, and look back at your original spot, still occupied by Yoongi. Hoseok pats his lap, then holds his arms out to you, saying, “Share popcorn with us.”

You hesitate for half a second, then shrug and go to him. You’ve been sitting on laps most of the time you’ve been with them anyways. You’re a step away from him, when another pair of arms grab and tug at you, mid-step. Something between a gasp and a yelp escapes your throat and you grip the popcorn bowl tighter.

“Sit with me.”

Yoongi’s voice is warm and his lips are soft as they brush against the shell of your ear. You look over at Hoseok, assuming he would protest, but he’s smiling widely, looking far from upset.

“Okay.” You agree, not particularly concerned with who’s lap you sit in at this point and settle back against him. “At this rate, I’ll be sitting on laps more than couches.” You say, with a grin, keeping your tone light so they know you’re joking.

“Only if we’re lucky.” Jungkook replies, then says, “You still haven’t sat with me.”

“Or me.” Jimin and Namjoon say at the same time.

Yoongi’s arms tighten around you as he presses his face into your shoulder. His mouth is warm against your slightly cool skin and you would almost consider it a kiss if you didn’t know better, “She’s sitting with me now.”

You offer the others a smile, but make no move to change spots, “Another time?”

Namjoon and Jimin nod and smile easily, Jungkook stares at you for a moment longer, before finally nodding in agreement as well. A few seconds later he’s starting the next movie and you’re happily reclining against Yoongi. Your head is against his shoulder and one of his arms is wrapped around your waist. His fingers stroke your side soothingly, relaxing you further. The large popcorn bowl in your lap empties steadily as the movie plays, a comedy of some sort. You haven’t seen it, and you aren’t really following along either, but the others are laughing, and the sounds make you smile.

Your body feels warm and heavy sitting there and each time you blink, your eyes stay closed for a little bit longer. Someone removes the bowl from your loose grasp and you mumble a thank you. His other arm wraps around you and his hand cover yours. You blink slowly again, feeling safe and warm and so, so sleepy…. this time, when your eyes close, they don’t open again.

-0-0-0-

Sunlight on your face wakes you up and you moan and stretch in the unfamiliar bed. Eyes still closed, you bury your face in the pillow and inhale, the scent is familiar, but not one you can immediately place. You look around, trying to figure out which room you’re in. There’s only the one bed, and you remember reading that Jungkook had won the single room. Too tired to be really concerned just yet, you hitch your borrowed sweats up over your hips as you walk toward the kitchen, where you can hear a low murmur of voices.

“Morning, sunshine.”

You blink rapidly at the chorus of good morning’s that follow Namjoon’s initial greeting.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep okay?” Jungkook asks, pulling out the empty chair next to him.

You follow the unspoken invitation and sit next to him. “It’s too early to think about the fact that I accidentally stayed the night here.” You say out loud, not awake enough to keep your thoughts to yourself. “Please tell me you have coffee?”

“Not a morning person?” Tae asks you as Jimin stands.

“Not if I don’t have to be.” You shrug and focus on Tae’s face, “I always adored the way you look in your glasses Tae. It’s nice when you all wear them. By the way, what time is it?” You turn to search for a clock and hear some rustling behind you. When you turn back around, six men are staring back at you, with their glasses on.

“Where did you- never mind.” You shake your head as Jimin sets a hot cup of coffee by your elbow. “You’re a lifesaver.” You say gratefully and press a kiss against his cheek before he can pull away. “I don’t know how people survive without coffee.”

“That’s not fair.” Yoongi says.

You blow lightly at the steam rising from your mug, “I’m sure if you ask nicely, Jimin would bring you a cup too.”

“Not that. Why does he get a kiss and we don’t?”

Your mouth parts slightly as you consider his words. You hadn’t even registered what you were doing, the action had just seemed so natural. “I- that wasn’t a kiss.”

Tae quirks an eyebrow at you, “It wasn’t?”

You narrow your eyes but can’t come up with a counter argument. Maybe it hadn’t been a romantic kiss, but your lips and definitely made contact with his skin… “It’s too early for this.”

“It’s really not that early, baby.” Namjoon says with a smile.

“It’s still not fair…” Yoongi says again, lips turned down in a slight pout.

You roll your eyes at his pout. You’re sure it’s fake, but it’s cute and makes you smile. Leaning over, you brush your lips against his cheek. “There. Better now?”

Immediately, they all begin to clamor about fairness and kisses and you stand quickly to stop their protests.

“Alright, alright. In the spirit of fairness…” you trail off and quickly stand. Before anyone else can say something, you make your way around the table, kissing each of their upturned cheeks. Jungkook is last in line and you bend slightly, aiming for his cheek with your lips already puckered. You barely brush skin when he turns and your lips land on the corner of his upturned mouth. Shocked, you meet his eyes briefly before pulling away just as quickly.

Your face is hot as you return to your seat, “T- there. Now it’s fair.” You say and take a hasty gulp of coffee, missing the looks they share. You continue to sip at your coffee silently as they converse, until your face cools once more. “So, what’s your plan for today?”

“We have practice again, but we’ll take you home for a change of clothes first.” Namjoon says, watching you closely.

“A change of clothes? Am I going with you to practice again?”

“We’d like you to. Unless you have other plans?”

You take another sip of your coffee, thinking quickly before answering. No, you don’t have plans, and even though you hadn’t planned on staying the night, nothing had happened. Not that you expected it to, you we’re just friends. And you hung out with friends and stayed the night at their houses all the time before….

“No. I don’t have plans.”

-0-0-0-

“Turn here.” You tell the driver, shifting in Jimin’s lap to point him in the right direction. Jimin’s hands land on your hips, keeping you from moving too far forward. “And then three down on the right.”

He nods and follows your instructions, parking in front of your building. You open the door and get out first, leading them. As you stand in front of the door to your apartment, seven men strung out behind you, you hesitate. Originally having them swing by your place with you to change had seemed like a rational idea. Namjoon had said you’d all go to the studio right after, so this would save time. But now that they were here, you were nervous. What if you had left a bra on the back of the couch? Or dirty dishes in the sink?

“Is something wrong?” Jimin asks from right behind you. His voice is soft, and his hand brushes your lower back.

“Not exactly. Just, it might be a bit messy?”

His answering laugh is more a puff of breath that warms your cheek, “That’s okay, we won’t mind. Our place usually isn’t that clean either.”

“Yeah. You should have seen it two days ago, but Jin-hyung made us all clean before y-ugh” Jungkook is cut off abruptly, when you look at him, he has a hand pressed to his side.

“Are we going in?” Jimin asks, drawing your attention back to him.

You glance back at him and his reassuring smile helps settle your nerves. “Alright. Here we go.” You say as you unlock the door, “Welcome to my… place.”

You step aside, letting them enter first while praying that everything was clean. You walk in after Jin and quickly glance around, nerves easing to see that, no, you hadn’t left clothing scattered all over the place.

They spread out, already looking around your apartment. Yoongi wanders off to the kitchen and the others begin examining your aunt’s trinkets and plants.

“Are all of these yours?” Jin asks as he runs his finger lightly over the leaves of a vining plant.

“By association. They’re really my aunt’s.”

He nods and moves to the next plant. You hide a smile when you see Namjoon looking, but decidedly not touching some of the different statues and shells sitting on a bookshelf.

“Hey! (Y/N)! What’s this?”

“I don’t know.” You say as you head to the kitchen. “What are you looking at?”

Yoongi points to a piece of paper hanging on the fridge. “This.”

“Oh. That’s my school calendar.” You tell him.

“It says here you’re on a break.” Namjoon says from right behind you. His arm brushes your bared shoulder as he points at the paper.

“Mmmhmm. For the week.”

“Are you doing anything?” He asks, still close, too close, behind you.

“T-today or for the whole week?”

He settles his hand on your shoulder and brushes his thumb back and forth. “The week.”

“Oh.” You stop for a second, trying to remember if you do have plans, trying to remember anything, really. But all you can think about is the slightly rough pad of his thumb moving against your bare skin and it’s not intimate or indecent, but it is. For you at least. You’re not used to the casual touches and the near constant contact, even if they are. You know it’s not… it’s not….

“Baby?”

“I’m sorry?” You blink and shake your head once to clear your thoughts. “Oh. No. I don’t have plans.”

“You should stay with us then.”

You turn at the sound of Yoongi’s voice. He’s much closer than he had been a moment before. Without breaking eye contact, he takes your hand in his, threading your fingers together.

“I’m sorry?” You echo the phrase you’d spoke to Namjoon not 5 seconds before and he grins. Behind you, Namjoon chuckles and lays his head on top of yours.

“Stay with us this week. You’re not busy and we have some days off soon. It will be easier to hang out if you’re already with us.” Joon explains.

“Where would I- where would I sleep?”

“We have a lot of beds.” Yoongi says and squeezes your hand. “You can sleep in mine. I’ll sleep with one of the others.”

You consider denying them.

You should deny them. Say no. You don’t want to, though. Even after such a short time, you feel connected to them, as crazy as it sounds, even to yourself. “Okay. Yeah. Sure. Why not, right? We’re all adults and f- friends. Yeah.”

You nod once, and swallow thickly. Yoongi’s eyes flick away from yours and, you assume, connect with Namjoon’s behind you, then back to you again. None of you say anything for a long moment. Something seems to build in the air around you, making your heart flutter in your chest.

Unable to take anymore, you break the silence. “I should- I should change clothes.”

Namjoon sighs and steps away from you. Your gaze, and hand, is still locked with Yoongi’s when Namjoon speaks from behind you, “We can help you pack some stuff.”

“I can pack myself, thanks. But you guys can come keep me company?” You offer instead, looking back and forth between them.

They nod in unison and you bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from smiling at the synchronized movement. Your hand is still in Yoongi’s as you make your way down the hall. Jin and Hoseok follow you, but Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook are missing from the living room. You hear their voices from down the hall and walk a little faster, suddenly nervous about what they could be up to. The door to your room is partially closed and you push it open when you approach.

Everyone freezes.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” Your voice is an octave higher than normal as you stare at them.

Jungkook ducks his head, and his ears turn red as he steps away from your dresser, but you still catch the small smile on his face. Jimin looks at you innocently, a little too innocently, and slowly removes his hands from your top drawer.

On the other hand, Taehyung…. Taehyung’s eye close as he gives you a boxy smile and pulls his hands out of the drawer, clutching a lacy pair of your panties.

“We were helping you pack.” He explains and gestures to your bed.

You follow the movement and see a suitcase open and over half full of clothes already. Tae saunters into your line of vision and tucks the underwear in his hand into the bag.

“Why?” You ask, incredulous.

“I have good fashion sense and we wanted to help.” Tae says, completely unrepentant.

“Fashion?” You laugh softly, “Never mind. Just get out, all of you, so I can change. Please.”

They file out one by one, and the second your door closes, you hear their voices explode in the hall. You shake your head and move back to the bed, quickly glancing at what the three of them had packed. It looks fine from your brief glance and hum happily as you change. You add a few more underthings, then zip up the bag.

When you return to the living room, it’s to find them all piled on the couch, squished in and sitting on top of each other. Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook scramble to stand when you enter, and Taehyung takes your hand as Jungkook takes your bag.

“We’re sorry.” He says and meets your gaze earnestly. “We didn’t mean to upset you.”

You glance between them, happy they are apologizing, “It’s okay. Well, maybe not okay, but I forgive you. Just promise not to do it again?”

“We promise not to get into your underthings again.” Tae agrees right away and the other two follow suit. Then, he grins at you cheekily, “Unless you ask.”

“Taehyung!”

“What, hyung? She might need help packing again.” He says, releasing your hand and turning to look at the other members.

You can tell they are on the verge of another argument from the way Namjoon puts his hands on his hips and his chin pushes out. Even though you’re still reeling a bit from Tae’s implication, you hold up your hand and call their attention. “Should we go?”

Your distraction works. They stop and focus on you instead of each other. Wanting to keep them moving and distracted, you open the front door, “You still have practice, right? Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

It was weird.

Falling asleep on the couch and waking up alone in Jungkook’s bed was one thing, but trying to fall asleep in his bed, alone, was a whole other thing. You feel strangely lonely even though you’re in the dorm with 7 others. Your eyes are closed, but no matter what you do, you can’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep. Frustrated, you glance at his bedside clock. 3 AM. You huff and close your eyes again, tossing and turning for a bit longer before giving up and deciding to get a drink of water, thinking maybe the cool liquid will help soothe your overheated body.

As you quietly pad down the hall, you listen carefully to make sure you’re not disturbing the others. It had been another hard day of practicing choreography, and everyone had been tired by the end of it. From the end of the hall you can see that there is light coming from the living room. As you move closer someone shifts on the couch, the sound carrying in the quiet apartment. Curious, you bypass the kitchen and approach quietly in case they’re sleeping.

“Jimin?”

He looks up from his book, startled by your presence. He’s sprawled out on the couch, head propped against the armrest, looking cozy in his hoodie and shorts when he asks, “What are you doing awake?”

“I couldn’t sleep. It’s…” You shrug and try to explain “I usually sleep alone, but I felt more alone, I guess.” You hug yourself and clench the long sleeves of Taehyung’s shirt. “Makes it hard to sleep.” You confess, stepping closer to him. You’re not sure why you don’t just tell him you need a drink, or any other excuse.

When you tell him why you’re up, he smiles. It’s soft and inviting and you can feel your insides melt a little at the expression. He lays his book on the back of the sofa and opens his arms, “Come here, jagi.”

You shuffle closer at his invitation. But when you hesitate, wondering where, exactly, you’re supposed to lay, he makes grabby hands at you. Shrugging again, you climb onto the couch, settling your head on his chest and wrapping your arms around him. Your legs are between his, and he snakes one of his between yours. His arms come around you, and you feel him settle his book on your back.

You smile into his chest, “What are you reading?”

You can almost picture his smile when he starts reading out loud instead of answering. His voice is a low murmur, that you can feel with your cheek pressed against him. It’s not Korean, that much you’re sure of. You think it’s probably Japanese but aren’t too concerned. The combination of his voice and the way he feels under you and wrapped around you is working as a sedative, and you feel yourself finally drifting off to sleep.

-0-0-0-

You hear them first. Their voices soft, but not quite soft enough to keep you from waking. You rub your cheek against Jimin’s chest and his arms tighten just a little in response. Content, you can feel your mind drifting off again…

Click

Your eyes snap open at the sound. It’s not loud, but it is easily identifiable. With your head still on Jimin’s chest, you move your gaze just enough to see 6 of your current roommates staring down at you. Jungkook lowers his camera and smiles.

“Morning…” you draw the word out. Quickly followed by “Oh no! We slept all night on the couch! I’m sorry Jimin.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t mind.” Jimin says and shifts slightly, freeing his arm which had gotten stuck between your bodies and the couch. He starts drawing lazy circles on your back with his fingertips, “I’m just glad you finally slept.”

“You couldn’t sleep?” Jungkook asks. His look of concern is mirrored on the other members faces.

“I-” you start then stop. Confessing your loneliness to Jimin at three in the morning had been a lot easier than confessing the same thing to all of them in the light of day. It seemed silly now.

“She was lonely.” Jimin says before you can continue. “This is still new for her after all.”

There’s a collective ‘ahh’ of understanding and you bury your face in Jimin’s chest. You’re not upset that he told them, but a bit embarrassed you’d felt that way in the first place.

“Jimin read to me until I fell asleep.” You tell them. Your words are muffled, but understandable. Mostly. Namjoon asks him something in Korean and you’re pretty sure he’s asking about Jimin’s book. Namjoon’s tone sounds disapproving, but he shrugs it off.

His hands are in your hair when he speaks to you again, voice soft, “Jagi, are you going back to sleep?”

“No, the sun’s really bright.”

He chuckles, and you move up and down with his chest. You should probably move, but between the way Tae’s shirt is riding high on your thighs, the sun on your back, and Jimin’s fingers stroking your hair, you’re not ready to. Suddenly, your legs and Jimin’s are lifted and set back down on someone’s lap. Their fingertips trail softly up and down your calf, slowly moving higher with each pass. The touch is soothing, and you relax into Jimin. The hand makes its way up your leg until his fingertips are tapping high on the
back of your thigh.

“Didn’t we give you shorts?” Tae asks.

You turn to look at him. He has one large hand resting on your thigh, and the other on Jimin’s leg.

“They were too big. And since someone forgot to pack my pajamas,” you say with a pointed look, “I didn’t have anything else. Your shirt’s long enough though.”

He grins unabashedly and shrugs, “It was an accident. You’re the one who pushed us out before I could finish packing.”

“I guess it’s a good thing you all wear such large clothes then.” You say and snuggle tighter against Jimin.

Tae’s hand starts its path up and down your leg once more, straying high enough to brush against the hem of his shirt, then down to your ankle and back again. Jimin’s arms are still wrapped around you and you’re starting to feel sleepy once more.

“I can’t believe we have to practice on a Saturday.” Jungkook says rather suddenly in the still room. “We need a weekend off.”

Your eyes go wide, and you push up off Jimin, “Oh my god it’s Saturday! What time is it?”

You almost fall off the couch, forgetting that your legs are wrapped in Jimin’s, as you try to get up. Your hands land on the floor, saving you from face planting. The shirt slides up to your waist and you hear someone groan. Quickly, you pull your legs loose, bringing Jimin off the couch with you.

“Ouch.” He mutters beneath you, but you’re far too worried to do more than mumble a quick ‘sorry’ down at him as you stand, running your hands down the shirt to make sure it’s covering you once more.

“What’s wrong?” Tae and Jungkook ask together. Jungkook takes hold of your elbow and pulls you against him, holding you still. Your back is pressed against his chest and he rests his chin on your head.

“It’s Saturday. I have to work.” Being in his arms instantly calms you in a way you refuse to question. You look around, but it’s only the four of you in the room. “What time is it?”

“It’s 8:17” Tae answers after glancing at his watch.

“Shit. I have to be to work at 9.” You think quickly about what you need to do to get ready. Thankfully, Taehyung had packed clothes you can wear to work. “Let me go Jungkookie. I have to change. And do you know where the nearest bus stop- no, I better call a taxi.”

“Don’t be silly,” Jungkook squeezes you once, then let’s you go. “I’m sure we can have someone drive you.”

“Can’t you call out?” Jimin asks from his spot on the floor, his head is tilted back, pushing his shoulders off the floor as he looks up at you. “I thought you didn’t have any plans?”

“Work isn’t exactly plans,” you explain, “and no, I can’t. It’s my scheduled day. Besides, you have practice, you won’t even know I’m gone.”

Tae snorts, “I doubt that.” He says and shares a long look with Jimin before looking back at you, “What time do you get off?”

“My shift is 9-3 today.”

“Okay. We’ll have someone pick you up too. If that’s okay?” He adds the last bit after a beat, almost as an afterthought.

“Thanks, I’d really appreciate that.” You say and smile at them over your shoulder as you make your way down the hall. Your bag is in Jungkook’s room and, if you hurry, maybe you can grab something to eat and a cup of coffee before you have to leave.

-0-0-0-

Work drags on. Usually your days went quickly and mostly pleasant, only turning sour when you had to deal with rude customers, but today…

You look at the clock and sigh. It’s 2:30, only half an hour left, but the previous 15 minutes had felt like 3 hours, and you weren’t too hopeful the last 30 would pass quickly. Suddenly, your phone vibrates in your pocket. You glance around, making sure one of your managers or a customer isn’t around, then pull it out. You open the group chat and smile at the picture they sent you. They’re sweaty and obviously worn out but smiling. Another message appears beneath the picture:

Joon: Miss you babe.

You: Miss you too.

You send the message quickly, your heart pounding a little too fast as you do so.

Joon: We’re almost done. Should be home by the time you get back.

You: I can hang at my place for a bit if you need to stay later.

Another picture comes in, this time from Jimin, before Namjoon can answer. Looking at it, you gasp softly and cover your mouth with your hand. It’s a picture of you sleeping from that morning. You can see Jimin’s shirt under your cheek. Your lips are slightly parted, and you pray you didn’t drool on him. You’re not sure if it’s the way the sunlight is
hitting your face, or a filter he used, but you look soft, in a way you never thought you could before.

It takes you a second to gather your thoughts before you can respond.

You: wow, that’s a good picture. I didn’t know I could look like that, lol.

Joon: you always look like that.

Joon: not sleeping, of course, but

Joon: Jimin already has it set as his new lock screen.

You: oh yeah I’m sure he does…

You know he’s teasing Jimin, but it still makes you smile.

Joon: Jimin says he definitely does and everyone says hi

You worry your bottom lip with your teeth as you think about that. There was nothing wrong with it - you had a picture of them from the first night you met as your home screen. It seemed almost intimate that he had that picture as his background… you blink and leave those thoughts behind. You didn’t know what he had before, maybe he’s always had friends as his background.

You: Hi everyone!

You snap a quick picture of you waving and send it. Seconds later you get a picture back. Namjoon is obviously holding the selfie stick, but all of them are in various poses that look like they’ve fainted or are in the process of swooning. Their silliness makes you giggle and you quickly look around to make sure you’re still alone. When you look back, there’s another message.

Joon: and don’t worry, we’re almost done. Just come straight home. Jin-hyung promised to cook dinner. Hope you’re hungry.

His slip, telling you to come home, has the smile sliding off your face and makes your heart ache. It shouldn’t upset you, there’s no reason for it. But his words make you realize how quickly being with them felt like you were, well, home in a way you’d never felt before. Not in your childhood home, or in your aunt’s apartment. They felt safe and warm and you felt whole when you were with them. There was a sense of belonging that you hadn’t found before them. You shake your head to clear the silly thoughts and smile at your phone, even though they can’t see you.

You: Sounds great! See you there.

The next half hour passes quickly, much quicker than the rest of the day had, thankfully. You walk out the door and get in the waiting vehicle with one thought in mind: you’re going to enjoy your time with your new friends, no matter what else happens.

-0-0-0-

“You’re back!” Jungkook says in greeting as he opens the door. “Why did you knock? You can just come in.”

You look up at him, slightly shocked, “You don’t keep your door locked?”

He’s silent for a beat, “Right. We’ll get you a key.”

He reaches out to pull you into a hug as he closes the door. Quickly, before he can complete the action, you spin out of his grasp, putting your back to the room. His face falls at your action and you immediately feel the need to explain.

“Sorry, it’s not that I don’t- it’s just- I need a shower.” You grimace, “I stink.”

Someone steps up close behind you, places their hands on your hips, and buries their nose in the crook of your neck. He inhales deeply, then exhales softly. You shiver when his warm breath hits your neck. You step out of his grasp too and turn to face them.

“I think you smell fine, kind of like me.” Jimin says, “You think I smell bad?”

Jungkook stands next to him, arms crossed, as they stare at you, waiting to see what you’ll say. They’re still close, within arm’s reach, but make no move to grab for you again.

“What? No. You smell fine. Good even. I just-” you stop when you see the mischievous grin on his face. “Oh, you’re an ass.” You say, keeping your tone light, and hitting his arm. Your combined laughter seems loud in the otherwise quiet dorm, “Wait, where’s everyone else?”

“Some of the hyungs went shopping for dinner stuff.” Jungkook answers, “Yoongi-hyung is sleeping.”

“Oh, okay. I really do need a shower though. Should I take one here or…?”

You let your question trail off, looking between the two of them. They share a long look, and you get the feeling they are doing more than just staring at each other. The look reminds you of silent conversations you’ve shared with your friend.

“You can use the one in my room. It’s a little more private.” Jimin offers, still looking at Jungkook.

Jungkook narrows his eyes and tilts his head, then smiles at Jimin before looking back at you. “Plus he has the most products, after Yoongi-hyung.”

“Okay. Well, thanks.” You glance between them once more, positive you’re missing something, but unsure what it is. “I’ll go grab my clothes then.”

It only takes you a moment to gather your stuff before entering Jimin and Hoseok’s room. You’re a bit distracted as you make your way to the door on the far wall, trying to decide whose side is who’s. One bed is made and the other has the blankets pulled up, but messily, as if they couldn’t bother to smooth them out. From what you already know, you’re pretty sure that one is Jimin’s. You’re still looking back at the beds as you reach for the bathroom door, only to have it open under your hand.

“Oh!” Your voice is a squeak as your palm meets something warm and firm rather than the cool hard metal of the door knob.

“If you wanted to grope me, you could have just asked, babe.” Taehyung says.

Your eyes are wide and you stare at your hand, still laying against his bare, damp, stomach. Your eyes flick down, confirming that yes, he is only in a towel, before you look at his face. The muscles under your palm tense briefly then relax once more. His smirk is wicked, and his dark eyes are staring right back into yours.

“Oh.” You say again because it seems to be the only thing you can say, because your brain seems to have stopped working, along with your lungs and heart, “Oh.”

Tae’s brows furrow, creating lines above his nose as his expression changes from teasing to concerned. His large hand covers your hand. The hand you still have on his abdomen. That hand.

“Baby? Are you okay? You have to breathe.”

His words seem to be coming from far away. Your hand flexes under his, almost as if it can’t help but try and hold him. That one small action releases whatever spell he has on you. You inhale noisily through your nose and snatch your hand away from him.

“I am so sorry! Y- you just s-surprised me. They said you had left. Well not you specifically, but they had left, and you weren’t around and Yoongi is sleeping. I was just coming to take a shower and-”

He cups your cheek and his thumb grazes your bottom lip, stopping you mid-ramble. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not worried about it. It’s not every day a pretty girl touches me like that.” He finishes with a cheeky wink.

“You’re as bad as Jimin. Or maybe he’s as bad as you. Don’t tease.” You admonish him. Your voice is a bit breathy and still higher than usual, but it’s there. “I am sorry though. I just wanted to take a shower.”

“I like teasing you baby.” He smiles widely, winking again.

“You like teasing everyone.” You mumble at the floor.

He doesn’t say anything for what’s really only a few seconds but feels like a small eternity. Your face is still flooded with heat and you can’t bring yourself to look at him again just yet.

Still without speaking, he grips your upper arms, steps forward -taking you with him - then spins around quickly so your places are reversed. “All yours.” He finally says, giving you a little bow as he releases you. “And the shower’s free too. Take as long as you want.”

After he leaves, you stare at the door for a long moment, wondering what he meant. Of all the things you had expected to see while staying with them, Taehyung in a towel was not one of them. Not that you were complaining. You hum to yourself as you get in the shower, committing the image to memory. You shower quickly, and dress even quicker, not sure you can handle any more ‘surprises’.

As you walk back down the hall, the door to Jin and Yoongi’s room opens, and Yoongi’s head pops out. His hair is messy and sticking up oddly in a few spots. His lips and eyes are puffy as he blinks sleepily in the light of the hallway.

You turn and take a few steps toward him. “Did I wake you?”

He focuses on you and shakes his head while opening the door wide enough to lean out. He holds his hand out toward you, waiting expectantly.

Confused, but willing, you place your hand in his.

“Yoon- ah!” You try to ask what he wants, but before you can get his name out, he’s tugging hard on your hand, bringing you into the darkened room with him and closing the door
behind you both with a snap.

You blink rapidly, trying to convince your eyes to adjust to the almost pitch- black room. The only light is coming from the crack under the door and it’s so faint, it doesn’t even light the floor around it. Your eyes are still adjusting as he pulls you through the room until your knees hit what you assume is his bed. The mattress dips as he sits. You can hear him shifting around until he’s in front of you and his hands move to your hips, “Lay with me.”

His voice is deeper than usual, a low rumble in the silent room. He tugs on your hips until you fall forward as he falls back. You brace your hands on either side of his head, keeping yourself from falling completely against him. His large hands stroke up your sides to your waist, around your back until his fingers are splayed out against your shoulder blades

“You didn’t sleep much. Lay with me.” He tugs on you again, it’s light and if you wanted, you could resist. You don’t, letting yourself be pulled down to collapse on top of him. “Please.”

The last word is a whisper against your neck. His lips are soft, soft, soft, as they brush against the delicate skin under them. You shiver against him and close your eyes. It was an accident, it was an accident you chant to yourself while trying to keep a tight rein on your emotions.

“Okay.” You answer after a moment too long, voice as soft and hoarse as his, though for a different reason.

His grip on you tightens and he rolls until you’re lying side by side. His leg finds its way between yours and his arm moves to your waist. As he presses the top of his head against your chest, you wrap your arms around him. Before long, you both fall asleep once more.

-0-0-0-

“It’s weird isn’t it? This is weird?” You ask Jin later that night, hoping only you can hear the slight tremble in your voice. You hadn’t meant to ask him, or any of them about this… situation, whatever this, was. But especially not while you were helping him cook. Well, sort of helping. He said you could help him, but until now had only let you wash and chop some of the vegetables. Recently, you’d been upgraded to watching the meat.

“Hmm, what is weird?” He’s asks, searching the fridge and not looking at you.

“How- how comfortable everything is. Like, we just met and it’s not even awkward. Not really. It feels like I’ve known you all forever.”

He turns to look at you then, “We don’t think it’s weird. Not at all.” He moves closer, and you can see his throat work as he swallows and licks his lips, “Do you believe in the red string of-”

“Ouch! Fuck!” You interrupt him with a cry of pain.

“Shit! Are you okay princess? What happened?” He rushes to you and takes your hand in his much larger one.

“The oil popped. Got some on my hand. It’s fine. I’m fine. I was just surprised.”

He brings you over to the sink and puts your hand under the running water, cooling your burn. “Still, maybe you should stay away from the stove.”

He hands you a towel and you wrap it around your hand as he moves to the stove. “So, you were talking about red yarn?”

Jin laughs, “Not yarn, it’s the red string of, you know, fate.”

“A string of fate? That sounds familiar.” You tilt your head and try to remember when and where you’ve heard the term. “Is that like, a soulmate thing?”

He turns to face you, smiling so widely, his cheeks are round, “Yes! It is, the seven of us a-”

“Oh! You’re soulmates!” You exclaim, excited at the revelation.

“Well, yes-”

“That makes so much sense! You know a lot of your fans wonder about that. There are so many theories.” You continue talking over him, too eager to stop. “So is that why everything feels so comfortable? Because it’s like you guys have known each other forever, so it’s the environment.”

“But that’s not what-” he tries again.

And you plan to let him continue, really, but you notice something alarming behind him. “Jin.”

“-I was trying to say. I mean that you- we-”

“Jin! Dinner is burning!”

He yelps and turns back to the stove. In the process of trying to save dinner, the subject of red strings and soulmates is dropped. You can’t help but think about it though, how nice it must be find your soulmate - or mates in their case - platonic or otherwise. You knew they existed, real soulmates, but rare enough that most considered them myths, like dragons. Sure, stories of their existence were everywhere, but no one you knew had seen one. You smile to yourself at the analogy. Dragons weren’t real, but soulmates were, and being around this group of soulmates definitely felt magical.

Jin’s hand on your shoulder brings you back to yourself. The way he’s looking at you, concern in his eyes, tells you that he’s tried to get your attention before now.

“I’m sorry,” You pull your bottom lip between your teeth. His eyes flick down to your mouth and you release your lip, “did you say something?”

“Are you hurting?”

“Oh. Ah no. I was just lost in thought.” You assure, understanding his concern now.

He smiles at your reassurance and slides his hand down your arm, taking your hand in his. “I’ll finish dinner. You go sit with the others.”

You roll your eyes but follow him out of the kitchen. “You know, I don’t usually get hurt in the kitchen.”

He flashes you a grin over his shoulder, “That’s good. We already have Joonie to worry about.” You cover your laugh with a hand and he smiles wider at the sound. The others look up as you enter the room and Jin gently pushes you toward Taehyung, whose arms are already open for you.

“Dinner will be done soon.” Jim tells the room, but only looks at Namjoon. You’re briefly distracted by Tae holding the glass he was drinking from up to you, the straw poking at your lip. You take a sip and hum in pleasant surprise. It’s sweeter than you expected, and citrusy, obviously a cocktail of some sort, the taste of alcohol unmistakable. You release the straw after another sip and when you look back at Namjoon, Jin is gone and you’ve missed what happened between the two. Namjoon is staring at you, and at first you stare back before realizing that he’s not seeing you. His eyes are distant, making you wonder what he’s thinking so hard about.

It’s not long after dinner that it really hits you - you’re drunk. Somewhere between the first sip of Tae’s drink to now, you’d consumed more than you thought. You’re feeling warm and relaxed and you can’t seem to stop smiling. Maybe you’re not three sheets to the wind drunk, but you’ve definitely passed tipsy and collected your $200. Looking around, you see you’re not the only one either.

You’re back in Tae’s lap after briefly sitting on your own. Every so often he presses a bite of dinner to your lips, which you accept without thinking. Jungkook has your hand in his and is pressed close to the both of you. The music borders on too loud, and all other responsibilities have been abandoned for the night.

Joon and Hobi are taking turns showing you the choreography you missed, but only Hobi is really trying to do the choreo. It’s impressive to watch, considering you know he’s not in a much better state than you. Joon gave up trying to follow the song shortly after it began and was doing silly dances to make the rest of you laugh.

Your phone rings and when you glance down, you see it’s your best friend. Against your sober conscience’s advice, you pick it up. “Heyyy…”

“Hey! What are you up to?”

“Just hanging out, you know, eating, drinking, making merry. Hey! TaeTae! Stop that!” You giggle into phone as Tae’s long fingers dance along your sides.

“TaeTae? As in Kim Taehyung?”

“He won’t be Kim Taehyung much longer if he keeps that up!” You try and threaten, but your laugher gives you away.

“Are you with BTS right now?”

“Yes! And - ah! Tae!” His open mouth lands on the side of your neck and he blows, making obscene raspberry sounds. You jerk away from both the feeling and the sound, but he follows your movements easily.

“Oh my god what is happening over there?!”

“Ah! Help me Kookie!” You cry out and continue to giggle helplessly. Jungkook grins, but offers no help. “Tae is tickling me and - Tae! I’m not- that’s going to leave a mark! - and blowing raspberries on my neck!” You finish explaining.

“Oh. My. God.”

“And Joonie is over here being a total nerd.” You sing-song the last word, making the others break out in fits of laughter. Tae pulls away from your neck and blows on the slightly damp skin; you shiver in response. Namjoon pauses to give you his dimple-y-ist smile, then continues his ridiculous dance.

“Oh. My. God!” She says again. “Are you even sober? I’m not jealous, because you’re my best friend and I love you, but I’m totally jealous.”

Suddenly, all the laughter and alcohol catches up to you and you begin to hiccup, “Don’t be -hic- jealous! I wish you were -hic- here! -oh my god Tae! -hic- I’m not trying
to bounce in your lap on purpo-hic- no! Wait! Don’t actually bounce me! -hic-” you start giggling again as Tae bounces his legs, jostling you around in his lap.

“Dear god. I’m going to let you go. I expect a phone call with all the juicy details later though! Photos or a video would be much appreciated as well!”

“There won’t -hic- be any juicy details, but I’ll -hic- call you later! I love youuuu.”

“I love you too, you lucky bitch. Go have fun with your boys.”

“They’re not my boys!” You try and tell her, but it’s too late, she’s already hung up. “Rid-hic-ulous. And you!” You round on Jungkook, “You were no help at all!”

He responds by pulling you onto his lap. You yelp and jolt a little at the rather sudden change in positions, but he calmly repositions until you’re cradled in the circle of his arms then nuzzles his face into the crook of your neck. You tilt your head, close your eyes, and hum, enjoying the feeling. Every so often you bounce a little in his arms before your hiccups finally subside.

“We could be.” He says after you’ve calmed. His voice carries throughout the room and you realize that the music has stopped.

“Hmmm?”

“Yours. We could be yours.”

You open your eyes to see them all watching you, their eyes seem much clearer than you suspect yours are, or it could be a trick of the light, you’re not really sure. Everything around you felt warm, and you briefly wondered how much of this you’d remember the next day.

“You want to be mine?” Your words are soft around the edges, not fully formed, but still understandable. You think.

“If you want us.”

“Mmmm, okay. I dub thee, thou? Thee? Whatever, you’re all officially mine.” Your eyes are closed again, it’s too much work to keep them open at the moment. “Does this mean I’m yours, too?”

“Of course, princess.” Jungkook caresses your cheek almost tenderly and you turn to rub your face against his shirt.

“I’m glad….”

Chapter Text

You’re hot. Impossibly so. You can feel the sweat beading at your temples and your shirt clinging between your shoulder blades. You blink awake, not fully aware, but your eyes are open. Sunlight is peeking around the edges of the closed window curtains and in the soft morning light, you can just see the chest and chin of the person in front of you. Whatever you’re lying on is decidedly not a bed and your hip is digging into the hard surface.

When you try to shift into a more comfortable position, large warm hands gently cradle the bare skin of your ribs, pulling you flush against an equally warm chest. Soft lips press against the damp skin of your neck and you feel your legs tangle with more than one person.

It’s so hot, but you’re still so sleepy and when another hand tangles in your hair and a deep voice murmurs for you to sleep a little longer, you comply.

The next time you wake up, you’re pressed flush against a firm chest. Your hands are under their shirt and their long fingers gently stroke through your hair.

“What time is it?” Your voice is rough and you feel embarrassed for being pressed so close to one of the guys.

They shift, but never fully release you as they reach for something. Your hands twitch as the muscles under them move.

“It’s 9:30.” Namjoon answers, his voice just as rough as yours.

You tilt your head back to see him looking down at you with his face scrunched and one eye closed.

“We slept in.”

He nods once and you blink in response.

“Shit. We slept in!” You exclaim and push away from him only to have the man behind you tighten his arms around your rib cage, effectively cutting you off.

“Shhh, you’re so loud.” Taehyung whispers and places a kiss on the back of your neck.

“Excuse me?”

“Loud. I’m trying to sleep. Just sleep.” He mumbles and throws a heavy leg over yours and Namjoon’s.

“I can’t believe you just said I was loud.”

“Both of you are loud.” Yoongi’s familiar voice comes from close by.

Lifting your head, your mouth drops open slightly when you see everyone cuddled together on the living room floor. Jimin is curled around Jungkook, as much as he can be, with his back pressed against Taehyung’s. Jin is sprawled out next to Namjoon with Yoongi’s head on his arm and Hoseok’s head on Yoongi.

“Did we all sleep out here?”

“It seemed like a good idea last night.” Namjoon confirms as he stretches, placing his phone back on the couch. “We have to be in at 10:30. Do you want to shower or anything before we go?”

“Please. Yes. My skin feels sticky and my mouth feels like a small furry animal crawled into it and died.”

“That’s gross babe.” Tae says while nuzzling your neck, obviously not too put off.

“Like your mouth is any better.” You retaliate.

“Wanna find out?”

“Taehyung.”

Hoseok’s voice isn’t loud, but it is oddly commanding. Instantly, Tae loosens his hold on you.

“Sorry hyung. Sorry baby.” He apologizes quickly.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. But I don’t want to find out what your breath is like before you’ve brushed your teeth either.” You squirm a bit in his loosened hold, “Let me up?”

You stand and look at the rooms sleepy occupants, only Namjoon and Hoseok smile back at you. “Right. I’ll be quick.” You assure and retreat to the bathroom.

The shower is cool and refreshing against your overheated skin. Every time you think you’ve calmed down, you remember the way Tae’s hands lingered as you moved out of his hold… you scrub the shampoo into your scalp a little more aggressively than necessary given your current state, reminding yourself not to read into things. Last night had been fun, but that’s all it was. Fun. Playing. Joking around with friends. You sigh and begin rinsing, only wincing a little when the water hits your tender scalp.

“Hey, (Y/N)-”

Your terrified scream drowns out the rest of what Jimin is saying. You try to cover yourself with your hands and in your haste knock most of the bottles onto the floor.

“Jagi!”

You see his silhouette move closer through the frosted glass door. “No! Don’t come in here!”

He stops moving toward you, but doesn’t move back either, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” You assure and grab one of the washcloths, holding it to your chest in another attempt cover yourself. “You scared the shit outta me!” You admonish and roll your eyes at his giggle of obvious delight. “Is there a reason you’re in here?”

“Yoongi- hyung wants to know if you’re hungry.”

Your stomach churns a little at the thought of food. “Maybe not yet.”

“Okay.” He says, and his shadow moves toward the door.

After waiting a second, you close your eyes and resume washing your hair. The bathroom seems quieter than it had before, and you start singing DNA softly to yourself. You make it through Taehyung’s part, feeling proud that you’d pronounced everything correctly, when another voice joins yours for Hoseok’s part. You stop, but he keeps singing.

“Jimin?”

“Yes?”

“Wh- you’re still here?”

He hums a few bars of the song, “Why did you stop singing?” He answers your question with one of his own.

“I- I can’t sing but, Jimin, I’m in the shower.”

“It’s not like I can see you.” He grumbles just loud enough for you to hear over the water.

“Tha-” you stop, at a bit of a loss, you can’t see him, and he can’t see you. You’re the only one making it weird. “Don’t look.”

You swear you can hear him rolling his eyes as he agrees.

“Jimin-ah?”

“This is not a communal shower!” You call out when you hear Namjoon enter the bathroom.

“Right! Sorry! Just looking for Jimin!” He calls back before switching to Korean and talking to, you assume, Jimin. “Did you see her *?”

“Only some Namjoon-hyung.”

“Jimin-ah!”

“Only some of what?” You ask louder than you meant to. Both men pause and you’re sure they are communicating silently. The air is heavy and pregnant with the weight of their continued silence as you wait, “Some of what?” You repeat.

“Wow baby! You’re learning Korean so fast!” Namjoon says quickly to cover their awkward pause.

You’re an odd mix of proud and offended when you speak again, “I think it’s from hearing it almost 24/7 lately. And I do know some, you know.”

“Of course you do, jagi.” Jimin soothes.

“When you’re done, just come out. We’re ready to leave when you are.” Namjoon says and you hear the door close as they leave you.

 It’s not until you’re drying your hair that you realize they never answered your question.

-0-0-0-

You’re the last one to get in the vehicle, Tae’s arms are already open and waiting for you to sit with him. You hesitate, wondering why you’re all still riding in the same car when you know they have others, but you’re already running late so you don’t ask. You hoist yourself up and move to climb over Yoongi, but he quickly wraps his arms around you, pulling you onto his lap. Tae opens his mouth to protest, then closes it again after glancing at Yoongi over your shoulder.

The ride to the studio is quiet, you’re all more hungover than you thought and you feel bad for the intense work out the boys are going to be put through.

“Maybe they’ll go easy on you today?” You say, breaking the heavy silence that fills the vehicle.

Yoongi snuggles into the crook of your neck, “Not likely.”

“Maybe I can talk to your manager. Explain that it’s my fault.” You offer.

“It’s not your fault. We’re grown men who know better. Usually.” Jin says from Taehyung’s other side. His forehead is pressed against the glass in an attempt to relieve his headache.

“Still,” You shift nervously on the lap you’re on and ignore the quiet groan from Yoongi, “I shouldn’t have stayed over. You guys are so busy and I’m messing everything up.”

“If you think for one second that you’re going back to that empty apartment instead of home with us, you’re wrong. You’re ours now remember?” Jungkook says, his voice edging close to demanding.

You huff out a laugh, contributing his behavior to your current hungover state, “Right. And you’re mine. I remember. I’m surprised you do though.”

He says something else, but your attention has shifted from Jungkook behind you to Yoongi beneath you. While his lap wasn’t exactly the softest, you hadn’t been sitting on anything hard, until now. You shift again, just slightly, to make sure it’s not, like, his hand or something. But no. His hands are firmly clasped over your own, keeping your arms and his wrapped around your waist. He groans again and his nose lightly skims the back of your neck. Your eyes close and you shiver in response. His small exhale is warm and the feeling brings you back to your senses. You try to move forward, so you’re not quite so in his lap, but his arms keep you in place.

“Stop.” He whispers. You freeze, worried you’re making things worse for him by moving. You’re smart. You know friction can cause things to, er, grow and now you’re feeling guilty for getting him into this odd situation.

“Sorry.” You whisper back, keeping as still as possible in his lap and trying to pretend that nothing is happening.

“Don’t be.” His lips are against your neck now and you can feel them curve as he smiles.

“Ah, okay?” Your breath hitches when the SUV suddenly comes to a stop and his hips press into you. You bite down on the inside of your cheek to keep quiet. Yoongi’s mouth opens on his own silent moan and you’re not positive, but you’re pretty sure he licks your neck. You turn just enough to meet his eyes. He holds your gaze with his own, trapping you in his dark dark eyes…

“You getting out?” Namjoon asks and you blink, breaking eye contact with Yoongi. Everyone else is standing outside the car, except the two of you. You give your head a small shake and wince, then take the hand Namjoon is offering and follow them in, trying to push the car ride to the back of your mind.

They warm up, seeming a bit stiffer than usual. You attribute that to not only sleeping on the floor, but the headaches you’re all sporting. During their practice, you can’t focus and continually zone out. You’re not sure how they’re able to function, let alone dance, when your own condition feels awful. Every so often your head throbs painfully and you’re left wondering what exactly you drank the night before.

“Probably all those cocktails.” You murmur to yourself and cock your head back, closing your eyes to escape the bright lights of the dance studio. The loud music isn’t helping, and you promise yourself, never again.

“Here.”

You crack your eyes open to see Hoseok holding a water bottle out to you.

“Thanks, Hobi.” You smile and take the cool bottle from him.

You close your eyes again while you drink, letting the cold liquid soothe you. Hoseok runs his fingers lightly across your forehead before cupping your cheek. You lean into the gentle touch. “I’m never drinking with you guys again.”

He laughs, “Do you want to see my studio?”

“Hope World?” He nods, still watching you closely. Your brow furrows, “Don’t you have practice?”

“We’re done for today. We have a broadcast tomorrow. We’ll practice the stage again there.” He explains.

You look over at the others still hanging around the practice room. Jimin and Jungkook are still practicing with Namjoon and Jin watching closely, but it’s obvious they aren’t doing it too seriously.

“Alright.”

The walk up to his studio isn’t long, but it’s the first time you’ve been alone with just Hoseok and you feel oddly nervous. He seems to pick up on your mood and takes your hand in his, lacing your fingers together and tugging a little when you hesitate at the door.

“Welcome to my Hope World.” He says with a little wink, pulling you in all the way and closing the door behind you.

“Oh…” you breathe out. You’d seen his studio once, sort of, on a vlive. The wooden floors, the red Supreme banner… “I kind of thought it’d be bigger in person.”

He lets out a strangled laugh and you look back at him standing in front of his desk. He sits in the chair, pulls you onto his lap, and spins you both so you’re facing his computer. “Disappointed?”

“No. Not at all. Wait,” you spot something on his desk. A picture in a small frame. A closer look at the belongings on his desk and you realize there are multiple pictures. All of them of you. Or, including you. “is that from the hotel?”

He nods and settles his chin on your shoulder.

“You printed them?” You ask, still a bit startled to see yourself in his space.

He shrugs, “They are nice pictures.”

“I- yeah. They are.” You finally agree, suddenly thinking about printing the ones on your phone and putting them around your space. “So, what do you usually do in here?”

“You want to hear what I’ve been working on?” He asks, already reaching around you to fiddle with the mouse.

“Always.” He hesitates, and you turn to look up at him, but he’s still staring at the screen, a look of concentration on his face. You reach up and cup his cheek and he leans into the touch. “If you want to show me, of course. If you can.”

He finally looks at you from the corner of his eyes, “I want to, but, you can’t… tell anyone about them. Not yet.” His tone is apologetic and his eyes dart away from yours.

“I understand. I won’t tell. I’m honored you even want to share it with me.” You confess, trying to control the excitement in your voice even as your stomach swoops, making you giddy.

He turns and kisses your palm then refocuses on the computer, “I want to share everything with you.”

You squirm in his lap, flustered by his statement. The sincerity in his tone and the ease with which he said it. He tenses, and you stop, vividly remembering the… incident with Yoongi earlier. He holds you more securely and you spend the rest of the afternoon quietly listening to music and relaxing against him.

-0-0-0-

“(Y/N)!”

Your eyes snap open at the sound of your name. There’s a weight on your stomach and you can feel something hovering over you. Startled and a bit disoriented, you sit up quickly.

“Ouch!” You and Taehyung cry out at the same time.

You pull away, hand over your forehead, “Tae?”

“Hey baby.” He mumbles from behind his hand.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m okay.” He says lowering his hand, “Dinner is here.”

“Oh Tae!” You cup his face in your hands and brush his bottom lip lightly with your thumb. “Shit I hit your lip and it’s already swelling. Let’s get some ice on that.” You try to scoot out from under him, but his thighs have you pinned in place. “Are you going to move?”

He wiggles his hips above you and smiles, only wincing a little when the action stretches his swelling lip. “I’m comfortable.”

You roll your eyes and barely refrain from rolling the both of you off the couch. “Get up.”

He rolls his eyes, mimicking you, but gets up, holding his hand out to help you up. Once you’re standing, he keeps your hand and leads you toward the kitchen where you can hear the others talking. His hand slips from yours when you enter the kitchen. The smell of food is tempting, but you don’t let it distract you from getting an ice pack from the freezer.

“Are you hurt princess?” Jin asks from right behind you.

You shut the freezer door and turn to see them all watching you, all except Tae who hasn’t fully entered the kitchen yet. “No,” you assure them and grab a towel, “but Tae and I bumped heads and he needs some ice.”

“Taehyung!”

They all instantly surround you and turn to glare at Tae, almost as one. You halt in your tracks, not that you could have moved forward anyways. Not with the way Jin was clutching you to his chest.

“We sent you to wake her up! Not assault her!” Joon’s voice is stern and you feel bad when Tae seems to sink further into the doorframe, as if trying to merge with it.

“Stop that.” You say and pull yourself away from Jin and push through the circle of men around you. “You’re being silly. He did wake me, and it was an accident.” You tell them as you put the wrapped ice pack against his lip. “There, that should help the swelling go down.”

“Thanks.” He mumbles and squeezes your hand.

“Sorry Tae.” Jin says, his chest is against your back as he leans around you to grip Taehyung’s shoulder. They stare at each other for a long moment and you feel slightly awkward standing between them in what feels like a personal moment.

“S’okay hyung.” Tae finally says.

Jin leans in closer, making you stumble a bit, and ruffles Taehyung’s hair. You smile at the small act and the room’s occupants let out a breath you didn’t realize you’d all been holding.

Dinner passes without incident and once your belly is fully, you start yawning.

“Tired again?” Namjoon asks, running his long fingers up and down your back.

You nod and lean your head against his shoulder, letting him support you. “I’m not usually this lame,” you say with a small sigh.

“You’re not lame,” he presses his cheek against yours, “you’re just not used to our schedule yet. You can go to bed if you want.”

His words should be comforting, and they are, sort of, but you still tense beneath his arm.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, noticing the change in your demeanor.

“It’s stupid. I’m just going to bed.” You say, shaking your head and try to move away. You don’t want to tell them that while you’re tired, you don’t want to sleep alone. Not after sleeping with them the past two nights. The thought of going back to a cold empty bed made you feel… lonely.

He brings you back to him, his fingers are gentle as he tilts your head up to look at him. “Tell me. Please?”

You hadn’t planned to tell him, really, but when your eyes meet, something in his warm gaze has you relenting, “I don’t want to be alone.”

He smiles, it’s gentle and caring and your heart stutters in your chest. “You know, I’m kind of tired too.” His hand moves up and runs through your hair before cupping the back of your head, “why don’t we go lay down?”

“Y- you don’t have to. I’ll be fine. Really.”

“Really, I’m tired too. Come on.” He pulls you up with him, tucking you back under his arm. “Good night.” He says to the others.

“Night.” You echo with a shy wave.

“They understand, you know.” Namjoon tells you later as you walk back into his room wearing one of his shirts.

You twist the shirt in your hands before remembering you’re not trying to flash him your underwear. “It’s still stupid.”

“No baby,” he pats the bed next to him, beckoning you. You go and sit on the edge. He doesn’t let you sit there for long before his long arms pull you back, laying you down next to him. “It’s not stupid. You’re not stupid for needing comfort.” He curls around you, spooning you and throwing an arm around your waist. “You can always tell us these things. We want to take care of you.”

You lean forward and turn off the lap next to the bed. You bite your lip and pull the blankets up to your chin. “I have to sleep alone again eventually.”

He’s silent behind you for long moments, his breathing deep and even. You think he’s fallen asleep until his hand curls against your stomach.

“Not for a little while yet,” his voice is rough, “Let me take care of you. For now, at least.”

You place your hand on top of his, threading your fingers together. “Only if you let me take care of you too.” You say, feeling braver in the dark.

“Deal.”

-0-0-0-

“Wake up. Baby, you gotta wake up.” Namjoon’s voice is soft, deep, and right next to your ear. “C’mon. We have to get up.”

You groan and stretch, your body brushing against his with each small move.

“It’s still dark.” You complain and try to burrow back into the pillow.

He laughs and pulls you against him, “It’s early, but we have the broadcast today.” You groan again, turning until your head is in his chest rather than the pillow, and his arms circle around your back. He dips his head down and whispers, “If you get up, I’ll ask one of the hyungs to make breakfast.”

You tilt your head, interested, but not interested enough to actually move yet.

He sighs, stirring your flyaway hairs, “You can wake Tae.”

You perk up instantly and look over at the next bed. Taehyung is still there, laying on his stomach with an arm and a leg thrown over a pillow and sleeping peacefully. You look up at Joon, a grin on your lips. “I still want the breakfast, please.”

He ducks his head and kisses the corner of your mouth, apparently missing your cheek in the dimly lit room, “Sure, baby.”

He slides out of bed and quietly leaves the room. You wait a few seconds after the door clicks shut to make sure his actions haven’t woken your sleeping roommate. When Tae continues to sleep on, you tiptoe the short distance between their beds. You smile down at him, soft and completely oblivious to your presence, then with a small leap, you jump onto him.

“Tae!” You yell as you land, your body as spread out as possible, trying to cover his body with your own.

He shouts, and jerks awake beneath you.

“It’s ti- agh!” You grab onto him tightly, acting on instinct when he moves to roll over, taking you with him. “Ugh Tae! Get off! You’re heavy.” You complain and hit his bare back ineffectively.

He squirms and pushes you further into the mattress. “I’m comfortable.”

“I. Can’t. Breath. Tae.”

He rolls off you, giving in almost instantly. Before you can move away, he traps you beneath his arm and leg, holding you the same way he had been holding his pillow earlier. “I suppose I deserved that.” He says, voice more of a growl than normal. “Now go back to bed”

“Don’t go back to sleep!” You move your head away from him, unable to move any other part while stuck partially beneath him. “We have to wake up. You have the broadcast.”

He groans, pulling you tighter against him as he curls around you. Something hard brushes your hip though his pajama bottoms and you feel your face heat even as you remind yourself it’s a biological response. A completely normal one for men in the mornings.

“Come- come on Taehyung. We need to get up.” You say, voice a little high, but not drastically so.

“Fine. I’m getting up.” He agrees, moving on top of you rather than letting you up.

You’re suddenly very glad the room is dark enough that he can’t see your face. Hopefully. Because you’re sure your eyes are wide and your mouth open on a silent gasp as his hips fully press into yours for a second before he climbs over and off of you. The action leaves you frozen on the bed.

“If I have to get up, so do you.” He says and leans down to kiss you in the same spot Namjoon had. “Do you want the bathroom first?”

His innocent question shakes you out of your stupor, “No. I’m okay. You go ahead.”

His hand wraps around your wrist as he pulls you up to stand with him, “Okay. Come out with me though. Don’t want you falling back asleep.”

You laugh breathlessly, “I doubt I’d be able to.” You say under your breath as you follow him out.

The dorm is a full of sleepy shuffling and occasionally mumbled sorry’ s as they bump into each other. You slip into Jungkook’s room to change and bump into Namjoon when
you leave.

“Oops.”

“I was looking for you.” He grasps your upper arm and starts walking you toward the main room, “We’re running later than I thought and there won’t be time for breakfast before we leave.” He explains as everyone else starts sliding on shoes and grabbing bags, “There’ll be food there though, okay?”

You nod and follow along, slipping on your shoes and taking the bag Hoseok holds out to you. You peek in and find a water bottle, a charger, and a book. You smile up at him and take the hand he’s holding out to you, ready to face the long day ahead of you as long as you’re with them.

Chapter Text

The moment you enter the building, everything seems to become a game of hurry up and wait.

The dressing room where you leave your bag is already filling with people, but you don’t stay there long before you’re being rushed back out to discuss the broadcast and the general outline of their day. Sitting next to Jin with Jungkook’s hand on your thigh, you stare blankly at the producer as he explains what’s happening. Occasionally you nod - as if he’s not speaking rapidly in Korean and you actually know what’s happening - but really you’re still half asleep and have no idea what he’s talking about with staging and recording and the audience?

You shake your head a bit when your thoughts start to go fuzzy around the edges and try to refocus. Jungkook squeezes your leg and you look over at him. He tilts his head a bit, looking concerned. You smile and place your hand on his, squeezing it a little to let him know you’re fine. Jin’s hand covers your other hand, threading your fingers together. When you turn to him, he smiles, but his eyes remain on the man who is standing at the front of the room.

Once that meeting is done, they all but herd the eight of you out to where the stage is located. It’s a bigger area than you expected. The seats for the audience seem to take up most of the room, with the stage sitting lower and at the front. You start to follow the others on stage, but Jin tugs your hand, stopping you and leads you to the seats right in front of the stage.

“You can see better from here.” He says, releasing your hand and gently pushing you into the seat.

You sit when the backs of your knees hit the chair and nod up at him. He smiles and walks away, leaving you alone. You can hear people moving around but can’t actually see anyone. You’re not sure how long you wait for them. Long enough to regret leaving your bag in the dressing room. You perk up a little as they finally come out on stage. Hoseok waves and Namjoon gives you an apologetic smile. Jin blows you a kiss and Taehyung winks. They wander around, consulting each other and the staff as they inspect the stage. You mostly ignore what they are saying, only catching half of it anyways. Instead, you watch the way they move and act and it hits you then that they are professionals. You’ve known they were, of course, but somehow seeing them, in person, beforehand, doing their- their job, leaves you a bit stunned.

Jungkook makes his way to the edge of the stage, crouches down and waves a little to get your attention. When you focus on him, he smiles, “This is for you.”

Before you can respond, the music starts, startling you. You jump a little in your seat; he grins at your reaction then moves to his position. You instantly recognize the song and feel your cheeks heat when they start the dance for DNA. Your thoughts jump back to your shower the day before. You’re sure the song had already been chosen days, if not weeks ago but you still can’t help wondering if they are teasing you after what Jungkook said.

Their practice is… underwhelming. You cover a smile with your hand as you watch. The moves are relaxed and while you can hear them singing, it’s low and only mostly on key. Still, their stares are intense, watching you as much as you’re watching them. By the time they finish, your face is still hot and they’re panting, but smiling widely. Jimin makes his way to the edge of the stage and holds his hand out to you, reminiscent of that first night. This time, you don’t hesitate in taking his hand. You brace yourself to be pulled up but end up backing away quickly as he jumps down to meet you. Hands still linked, he starts walking around the stage, taking you with him.

When you get back, the dressing room is a mess. It’s full of people waiting to do hair, and makeup, and clothing with all the necessary tools spread about. You settle on one of the couches toward the back of the room with your book, already knowing it’s going to be a long day.

-0-0-0-

You’re making your way back from the bathroom - happy that you remember the way back - when someone stops you and starts speaking rapidly in Korean before walking away just as quickly. You blink in confusion and surprise a few times before gathering your wits enough to sort out what they had said. You’re still not entirely sure, but you understood that they wanted the guys to come out for… something. You assume another practice. Or maybe it was time for the actual broadcast. Time had lost meaning in the windowless building.

You start talking as soon as you enter the room, worried about messing up and making them late. “Guys, they really need us to head out now…”

You stop talking when you see that no one is paying attention to you. Instead, they’re all standing in a circle, hands in the middle.

Well, almost all of them.

When you notice him missing, you look around to see Yoongi still sleeping on the couch where you had left him. His head is kicked back, arms crossed, and legs spread wide, telling you he hasn’t moved an inch since you’d left almost 10 minutes before. You glance between the others and him, then join the circle just as Hobi counts to three and they put their hands back in the middle, each making a familiar shape.

“What’re you doing? Why’re you playing Rock Paper Scissors?”

“Deciding who wakes up Yoongi.” Jungkook explains, flashing you a smile as he steps back, having won the round.

“Decide…” you roll your eyes, “Really? If none of you want to, I’ll do it.”

“No! Wait!” They call and someone tries to grab your arm, but it’s too late, you’re already marching over to the sleeping Yoongi.

“Hey, it’s time to wake up. We have to leave.” You say softly as you step between his legs, lean over, and gently brush the hair from his eyes with your fingertips.

When he doesn’t respond, you try again, this time softly pushing at his arm, “Yoongi, wake up. It’s time to go.”

He doesn’t stir and you narrow your eyes at him, “Yoongi. Wake. Up.” You punctuate each word by pushing harder on his arm.

Still, nothing.

You turn back to see everyone staring at you in a combination of fascination and fear. “Well, I guess someone better get the wa- ah!”

The rest of your sentence is cut off when Yoongi grabs you from behind and pulls you into his lap. He buries his face into the back of your neck and presses a kiss there, “I was sleeping.”

“Well,” you push against his arms and try to leave his lap, “we need to leave. You can sleep later.” You tell him, then freeze as you realize that you hadn’t spoken English. He takes advantage of your still form and pulls you closer. “Oh my gosh.” You breathe out, “I did it! Quick! Say something else!”

His face is still in your neck and he mumbles something you can’t quite catch. You’re about to ask him to repeat it when someone opens the door and a head pops in, telling you that it really is time to go.

You stand and he stands with you, one arm still wrapped around your waist. As you near the stage, you can hear the audience talking and laughing. The excitement in their voices is catching, and you can already see the men around you responding, their steps lighter, almost bouncing as they walk.

“Will you sit in the audience?” Yoongi’s voice is barely more than a whisper in your ear and you turn your head to try and catch his words.

“Um.” You lick your lips as you think. It wasn’t like you hadn’t been in the audience watching them before. In an even larger crowd. But this time, you were nervous about being out there. “I don’t think so. Maybe I should go back to the dressing room and watch from the monitor?”

Hoseok stops suddenly in front of you, causing you and Yoongi to run into him, the three of you almost toppling over.

“Hey!”

“You don’t want to watch?” Hoseok asks, patting your arm in apology.

“I do, but I doubt there’s any free seating out there.” You giggle nervously, “I don’t mind waiting in the back.”

He stares at you for a long moment before pulling his phone out of his pocket. You tilt your head, surprised he even had it on him when they were about to go onstage. You had seen the others leaving theirs in the dressing room and assumed he would have done the same.

“If you don’t want to sit out front, will you use this and record us from over there?” He asks, handing you the unlocked phone with one hand and gesturing to a spot behind the curtain and off to the side with the other.

“Sure?” You take the phone and smile when you see the home screen is a picture he took of the two of you in his studio. “But isn’t that what all the other cameras and monitors are for?”

He shrugs, “They don’t record from this angle. I can see more this way.”

“Okay then.” You draw the words out but are happy enough to comply.

He smiles widely and leans in to kiss your cheek, “Thanks, jagi.”

Yoongi squeezes your waist and places a kiss on your other cheek while the rest wave before filing on-stage to loud cheers and applause. You follow slowly and peek around the corner, not wanting to be seen. Their easy banter with each other and the fans makes you smile. Hoseok turns back once, eyes searching the dark wings of the stage. You raise your hand and wave a little to catch his attention. He smiles at you then refocuses on the crowd.

The show seems to pass quickly, and before long, they are thanking the crowd and retreating back stage with you in tow. It’s quieter in the back now, with everyone watching their performance on the monitors while cooling down. Hoseok is sitting next to you, watching the video you took.

“Fuck.”

The curse is muttered and somehow that’s worse. Because it sounds like he’s familiar with it. You can’t stop your gasp, or the way your mouth falls open as you stare at Hoseok. He’s not looking at you, but down at the video on his phone. Mouth still open, you turn to Yoongi, accusing him with your eyes and fighting the urge to do something about this. Yoongi shrugs, and the corner of his mouth pulls up in a smile.

Your mouth is still open when you turn to Jin next to Yoongi, silently asking him to do something about this, but he just shrugs, smiling at your flabbergasted expression.

“I don’t know why you’re surprised. He does this all the time.”

Eyes narrowed, you move closer to Hoseok and pull his head to your chest, ignoring his muffled squeak of surprise, “I’ve never heard it. Not from Hobi.” You say and start petting his head. Part of you realizes you’re a bit caught up in the moment, but it’s fun. You fight a smile as bubbles of laughter make their way up your throat. “He- he’s so innocent.”

Hoseok snorts at the same time Yoongi and Jin start laughing. He wraps one long arm around your waist and tickles you until you let him go in defense. You’re still squirming and laughing when he maneuvers you into his lap.

“You don’t really think I’m that innocent, do you?” He asks, voice deeper than normal and right near your ear.

“Ah, no. No. Not that innocent.” You say, and relax into his arms when his hold on your waist loosens, “So, what happened?”

He sighs, “We’ll have to redo it.” He tells you, then raises his voice enough to be heard by the rest of the room, “The timing is off toward the end.”

The others groan, but acquiesce quickly, following him back out after a quick backstage run through. You wait in the wings again, phoneless this time. The audience is still there and when the guys apologize, they respond with reassurances that it’s fine. You smile at the exchange, because you know both parties are sincere.

They interact a bit more this time, moving closer to the edge of the stage and talking to individual fans. It’s sweet, and part of you almost misses the excitement of being a fan talking to their favorite idol for the first time. The production team calls for quiet, letting everyone know they are about to start. Taehyung lingers in front of a pretty fan a moment longer, then puckers his lips in a kiss, before walking back to his position.

He’s all smiles as he stares out at the crowd. But off to the side, you stand frozen, head at war with your heart.

You can’t be mad.

He was flirting with me earlier.

Was he though? Was he really?

Well he seemed pretty keen on having me in his bed.

They all were. That’s just who they are. You can’t get upset.

Unconsciously and unbeknownst to you, your arms curl around your middle as you start to fold in on yourself. But you’re no longer aware of your surroundings, too wrapped up in your conflicting thoughts and feeling guilty for even having those kind of thoughts in the first place….

“Jagi.”

Hot hands cup your face, warming your cool cheeks. You feel him standing in front of you but can’t see him with your unfocused eyes.

“Y/N. You’re making me worried. Come back to me.” He says and blows a puff of air in your face.

You try and pull back, but he follows you, keeping you in his hold as the world around you comes back into focus.

“I- Hobi. I’m sorry.” You blink again. The concern on his face is almost too much for you, “I’m okay.” You assure, not sure if you actually are or not.

His golden eyes search yours and you realize he’s wearing colored lenses.

“It’s not like that. This is part of our job.” His voice is low and urgent, willing you to understand, “You know that, right?”

You nod as much as your able to in his hold. “I know,” your voice sounds wrong, but you don’t have time to think about it too hard, “but they need you on stage now.”

He looks back to see what you’ve already noticed, his band mates and over half the audience staring at him. He looks back at you and seems to wrestle with himself for a moment before saying “Don’t leave, okay?”

You hesitate, wondering how he knew you had been thinking of doing just that.

“Promise me you won’t leave.” He says once more, staring deep in your eyes.

You nod again, “I promise.”

Chapter Text

You lay in bed longer than usual that morning, not quite ready to face them. You had begged off dinner, complaining of a stomach ache, then all but hid in Jungkook’s room for the rest of the night. You had thought you heard someone at the door in the early hours of the morning, and part of you had hoped they would come in, but they hadn’t. In the light of day, you couldn’t help but wonder if the sounds outside the door had been your own imagination.

You’re still debating if you want to get out of bed when your phone buzzes near your ear, alerting you of your notifications.

“Shitshitshit.” You mutter to yourself, not even bothering to put on pants or socks as you race down the hall toward the kitchen. You can hear them talking in the living room and veer your course that direction.

They stop talking when you rush in, turning almost as one to look at you. You close your mouth, suddenly unsure of everything. You open it to say sorry, then close it again. Seconds ago, what was on twitter had seemed like a big deal. Now, standing in front of them, you remembered the other elephant in the room. The one you had left there the night before.

“Morning,” you finally say, breaking the silence. You notice their casual clothes, Yoongi and Tae still in pajamas, “lazy day then?”

“Sort of.” Namjoon smiles and the tension in the room goes down just enough that you feel like you can breathe again. “We’re going somewhere later tonight,” he pauses, continuing after a beat, “Jimin made coffee.”

“Erm, thanks.” You shift from one foot to the other, “Did uh, has anything happened? Today?” You voice is a bit high making you wince.

Jimin smiles, “Something like you being all over twitter?”

“I, shit. Is it bad?”

He holds up his phone and waves it around while patting his lap, “Come see for yourself, jagi.”

“Maybe I should get coffee first…”

“I’ll get it.” Taehyung jumps to his feet and makes his way to you. His words are earnest as he tries to hold your gaze, but you just, you can’t meet his eyes.

“Thank you, Taehyung.” You say, voice soft as you move around him to Jimin.

He waits for a moment, staring after you, then turns and walks away. As you slide onto Jimin’s lap, you hear the cupboard door slam and jump a little.

“You know he didn’t mean it.” Jimin says, running his hand up and down your bare thigh.

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You tell him, lying instantly.

Everyone in the room stills and you focus on not giving anything away.

“I am sorry I um, caused a stir. But it’s just an upset stomach. I feel much better today.” You lick your lips and swallow hard, not daring to look up at them.

“Upset stomach?” Namjoon asks again, almost as if he’s giving you an opportunity to take it back.

You don’t.

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, we’re sorry we didn’t notice that, that you had an upset stomach before,” he continues, “other than Hobi-ssi, of course.”

You wave your hand, “It’s fine,” you assure plastering a smile on your face before looking up. You make sure to look at each of them, feeling awful that they feel the need to apologize for your behavior. “It’s fine. I feel much better today.”

Before you can say anything else, Taehyung returns with your coffee. He stops in front of you, kneeling so he can see your face when you look down.

“I’m sorry.”

You can hear the sincerity and hurt in his voice and his eyes are glossy and you feel awful.

“It’s not your fault.” You’re quick to tell him, taking the coffee with both hands and letting the mug warm them. “You couldn’t have known I’d get upset- an upset stomach.” You say around the tightening of your throat and quickly change the subject. “So, what’s happening on twitter?”

They look at you for a moment longer before Jimin reaches around you to show you his phone screen.

Tae turns to sit at your feet. His back pressed against your shins and he wraps his large hand around your calf, occasionally squeezing.

“Did I get you in trouble?” You ask the room at large. “And I’m not all over twitter, but Hobi is…” you gnaw on your bottom lip in worry, handing the phone back to Jimin.

Next to you, Jungkook reaches up and cups your cheek, using his thumb to pull your bottom lip away from your teeth.

“No. No one is in trouble, princess.” He says and smiles sweetly when you look at him. “Don’t worry.”

“Okay.” You smile back. His smile is contagious, even as the few sips of coffee you had settle heavy in your stomach. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

“We’re going to the zoo.”

Chapter Text

[wednesday]

“That is… one big tiger.” You say in awe, looking up at the large tiger statue that stands at the front gates of the Seoul Grand Park. “I thought we were going to the zoo?”

“This is the zoo.” Jungkook says from behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and setting his chin on top of your head.

“I think this is a bit more than a zoo. There’s an amusement park. In the park.”

“I know! Isn’t it exciting?” He asks, squeezing you tightly.

“Jung- Jungkookie!” You say breathlessly, trying to wedge a hand between his arm and your waist to loosen his hold a bit to no avail. “If you squeeze me much tighter, I’m going to pop!”

He kisses the top of your head and relaxes his hold, releasing the pressure on your ribs, but not letting go of you. “Sorry.”

“No. It’s okay. Just watch those muscles.” You tease, “What are you doing, like 100 push-ups a day?”

He shrugs, “Two-hundred and forty, actually.”

“Two-” you start to cough, choking on a bit of spit you inhaled in surprise. Knowing he was some sort of, of, muscle bunny, and hearing about it were two different things.

“Quit showing off Jungkookie.” Namjoon says, throwing his long arm around Jungkook’s shoulders, “She was already impressed with your muscles before.”

You gape at him. Sure, you had been impressed with Jungkook’s muscles already, but Joon didn’t need to out you like that either. He winks at your reaction and starts walking the two of you toward the entrance where the others are waiting. You can see some of the film crew waiting nearby and assume the others were spreading out to set up cameras and microphones around the zoo. You still hadn’t met their personal camera crew, but you were about to spend most of the night with them.

When you walk into the park with Joon and Kookie, Tae stops talking to Jimin and looks at the three of you. You start to smile at him, then look away from his hard stare. Jungkook’s arms tighten around you before he lets go, walking to join the others along with Namjoon to get a few instructions. You hang back, unsure if you should join, though they don’t seem to be filming yet. You had talked to one of their managers earlier, firm about not being on camera and they had agreed. It wasn’t that you were exactly
against being on camera with them, but you weren’t an idiot. The twitter backlash had already been more than enough for you, and them. At one-point Hobi had forbidden any of you from looking at your phones. You didn’t want to imagine the public reactions if you were filmed with them during a Run episode.

You’re still hanging outside the circle when Jin holds his hand out to you, not looking. You take a step forward, hand already extending, when Tae turns to look at you from beside Jin. His gaze is intense and unreadable and you freeze in your tracks, flooded with indecision. You’d been avoiding each other after the… incident that morning and you weren’t sure if he would welcome you standing so close and you just didn’t know…

“Done!” Namjoon says walking over to you. While you had been having an internal debate, they had finished their meeting. Tae’s eyes are still on you when Namjoon wraps an arm around your waist, bringing the two of you closer. He stares at Namjoon’s hand for seconds that feel like hours, meets your eyes, then turns away.

You worry at your bottom lip as you watch Tae walk away from the group, and your heart drops a little at the way his shoulders slump.

“Why don’t you see where he’s going?” Namjoon says, moving his large hand to your lower back and pushing gently.

You hold your ground, “Do you really think I should? He seemed like he wanted to be alone….” you trail off and stare after Tae. You want to go after him, make things right. It wasn’t his fault you got upset. He was just… being himself. Doing his job, and you were the one who had made it into something more than it was just because you had feelings…

“Did he?” Namjoon interrupts your thoughts and you silently thank him, shoving them to the back of your mind. “I think you should go get him anyways. We have to start recording soon.”

You look at him over your shoulder, “Why don’t you get him then? I’m almost positive he doesn’t want to talk to me.”

Namjoon pushes you again, with a little more force this time, making you take a step to avoid falling over. “I think Taehyungie just needed some time to sort his thoughts out. He wasn’t ignoring you earlier.”

Your bottom lip pokes out in a pout. His refusal to touch you at all on the car ride over, even though he was sitting right next to you, had stung and you ended up pressing yourself against the door with Jungkook’s arms around your middle keeping you from moving further away. You hadn’t even realized just how used to him touching you, you had become until he suddenly wasn’t anymore.

“Go.” he says again, increasing the pressure on your back until you’re taking not one, but three steps forward.

“Fine.” you finally agree and move away from him, “I’ll go find Tae and bring him back.”

“Don’t take too long, but don’t rush back!” He calls after you and you roll your eyes.

You were sure Tae wouldn’t want to talk to you, and honestly, you weren’t sure how you were going to talk to him either. Still, you follow the path - hoping Tae hadn’t decided to go exploring off path - until you finally find him sitting against a low wall near one of the courtyards.

“Tae, there you are. They want to start recording soon.” You say as soon as you’re close enough.

“I’m sorry.” He says without looking up, voice weary.

“Sorry for what?” You ask, swallowing around the uneasy feeling building in your throat.

He looks up at you and it’s there, a look that says he knows.

“I told you. I had a stomach ache.” You lie again when he continues to stare at you. It falls so easily from your lips this time, even you might have believed it, if it weren’t for the bitter taste it left in your mouth.

“I’m not stupid.”

“Wha- no! Of course you aren’t Tae!” You take a step toward him, hand outstretched and ready to assure him you would never-

“Then quit acting like I am. I know you’re lying to us. To me.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, then speak in a rush, afraid if you stop you won’t get it all out. “Look it’s- I don’t know. I shouldn’t- it’s your job and it’s you and I know that and it’s fine. It’s fine. And I’m sorry I reacted at all because I know we’re just friends. And I’m sorry.”

His face is a study of confusion when you gather the nerve to look at him again after your little tirade and your heart stops. You look away, preferring to look at your feet so he won’t see your sudden panic as an alarming thought crosses your mind -

What if you were talking about two different things?

And now you had just all but told him you had feelings other than friendship for him and you weren’t sure how you would handle it if he didn’t want you around anymore because you made things too awkward, but you were sure you wouldn’t handle it well and…

His hands are heavy when they land on your shoulders and the touch is electrifying as much as it’s a relief. The warm contact feeling like coming home after being away too long. You exhale all at once. You hadn’t even known you were holding your breath. He rubs one hand up the side of your neck, cupping your cheek and tilting your head back to look at him, his thumb strokes back and forth just under your lip and the touch is distracting and you almost miss what he says, his voice soft and aching, “Is that what you
think we are? Just friends?”

His words confuse you as much as the look in his eyes. Isn’t that what you were? Or was it… was it something more? You wanted it to be more as much as you were terrified of it being something more because you didn’t want more with only him.

Before you can fully decipher what he’s trying to say, you hear someone calling you.

“Taehyungie-hyung, (Y/N)! There you are!” Jungkook says, voice growing louder as he draws nearer, “Namjoon-hyung says he sent you to find Taehyungie-hyung ages ago.”

“It wasn’t ages,” You say, turning toward him and breaking your contact with Taehyung. He doesn’t let go of you for long, taking your hand in his and lacing your fingers together, “it’s been maybe 5 minutes.”

“Well, we have to go.” He retorts, throwing one arm around Tae’s shoulders. His hand brushes your shoulder too and you lean into the small touch, until you’re bumping hips with Tae while you walk. He wraps the hand holding yours around your lower back, bending your arm but not uncomfortably so as he pulls you even closer. The three of you are a tangle of limbs when you reach the others, laughing as you cross legs while walking and try not to trip.

Giggling, you look up to see Namjoon watching you with a soft smile. He winks when he notices you staring and meets the three of you part way.

“I see Jungkookie found you.” He says, wrapping an arm around your waist and brushing Tae’s side, and squeezes, making you jolt with how much it tickles. “Finally.”

You poke his side with your free hand in retaliation, “We weren’t even gone long!”

“Everything okay?” He asks, voice low and face near yours.

You beam up at him, “Yeah. We’re okay.”

-0-0-0-

You’re enraptured, watching them solve the puzzles on the monitor. The three teams are running through the zoo, only stopping occasionally to grab tickets as they find hints to the next clue on their hunt.

“Oh my god,” you breathe out, excitement making it hard to speak as you stare at the habitat behind Hoseok’s team, “are those hippos?”

You look to one of the staff members for confirmation, not that you needed it, exactly. But you wanted to be sure. They nod.

“They’re so far away.” You pout, trying to keep your voice down, mindful of those working around you and not wanting to be a distraction. You switch your focus from Tae, Jungkook, and Hoseok’s team to Namjoon and Jin then to Jimin and Yoongi. You’re not sure who’s in the lead, but you think it’s Jin and Namjoon.

As you watch, you think about what sort of ‘special’ prize you want to pick. The producer had asked you to choose something for a member of the winning team, but for the life of you, you can’t come up with something that seems right. Food seemed like the obvious answer, but that was sort of the problem. It was the obvious answer. If it was a special prize, you wanted it to be unique.

The game continues and you still aren’t sure who’s winning, but it all seems pretty close. When they tell you it’s time to meet back with the guys, you can feel the first stirrings of nervousness deep in your stomach. You still don’t have a concrete idea and you’re running out of time. It doesn’t take long to get back to the original meeting place. The closer you get, the slower you walk. It’s not that you don’t want to see them, but that you want to stretch out the time as you scramble for ideas. When you come into view, they smile and you can’t help but smile in response. You stay back while the winning team is announced and clap for Hoseok, Jungkook, and Taehyung with the rest.

The crew explains that there is a special prize to be given off camera for one member of the winning team and your mind spins into overdrive. The excitement in the air is almost palatable as they break into a game of rock, paper, scissors. They wonder what the prize could be, and you shift from foot to foot, wondering if it’s too late to back out now. Someone probably has a backup prize, right? But then the cameras are off and the producer tells them that you’ve picked the special prize and the guys are surrounding
you as the staff slowly wanders off and you, you….

You panic.

That’s really the only explanation you have for what you do next. You had had hours to think of a special ‘prize’ while they filmed. But now, standing in front of Hobi, his face excited and expectant, all of your previous half formed ideas fly out the window, leaving your mind blank as they all stare at you, waiting.

“Y/N?”

His expression slowly changes from excited to confused. Your heart is racing as you step closer and place your hands on his shoulders. His dark eyes are still full of confusion when you close your own, lean in, and press your lips against his.

For a moment, neither of you move, both frozen by the unexpectedness of your actions. Then, his hands land on your waist, feeling as if they belong there as he steps closer. He is so close…if you had been breathing, your chest would brush against his. Everything and everyone around you fades until it’s just you and him and the way your mouth is pressed against his.

His lips are soft beneath yours. So soft. And warm. Warm like his hands on your waist and warm like your cheeks, and warm like the feeling growing in your chest…

You start to lean into him, getting lost in the way he seems to surround you. His taste, his scent, every sense is full of him and you want more. Your lips part, just a little, just enough and he moans. And the sound he makes is softer than his lips. You feel it and groan in response and for a brief moment, his tongue touches your bottom lip, a brief, wet, heat and your thoughts are hazy and only one thing is clear and it’s him, him, him…

You pull back then because you know if you continue, you won’t want to stop. His hands are tight on your waist and you don’t want him to let go, even as his rings dig into your soft flesh when he squeezes just this side of too tight before letting go. Your chest rises and falls, the feeling almost seems exaggerated as you try and control your breathing. Stepping back, your hands slide down his chest before coming to rest at your sides.

“Con- congratulations.” You whisper, then lick your lips and you swear you can still taste him. When he doesn’t respond, you take another step back, right into Taehyung’s waiting arms.

“What. Was that?” Taehyung asks, mouth slightly open in shock as he stares between you and Hoseok.

“I don’t know!” You throw your hands in the air - barely missing his face - too flustered by your own actions to give any real explanation. Not that you really knew what you’d done it either. Your voice slowly raises as you continue, “I panicked!”

“You panicked and kissed him?” Jungkook is staring at you with an odd look in his eyes but his grin lets you know he’s amused by your explanation.

“It- I- look-” you scramble to come up with a plausible sounding reason why you kissed him as a prize instead of anything else you could have done or asked for.

“I think you broke him.” Yoongi adds, sounding like he’s holding back a laugh while staring at the still unmoving Hoseok.

“Oh.” You look back at Hoseok as your already warm face heats even more and you feel as if you’re going to combust. Hoseok’s face is twisted, looking as if he’s in pain and you suddenly feel awful for giving into your impulsiveness. “I’m- I’m sorry Hobi- Hoseok. I should have asked…”

You trail off when he shakes his head slowly. Almost as if he’s clearing it. “No. It’s okay. I just need to…”

He smiles at you, but it doesn’t seem quite right. His eyes are glazed and distant and there is a tightness about him. Your worry increases when he excuses himself and hurries away from the rest of you.

“I fucked up.” You sigh, still watching his retreating form. A chorus of no’s! from the men around you makes you jump a bit in surprise and press closer to Taehyung, “He looks so upset though.”

“Well, he sure is something.” Jimin agrees.

Yoongi glares and Jimin giggles but doesn’t explain. From the corner of your eye, you see him shake his head good naturedly when you gesture vaguely for him to continue.

“You know, we all did really well. It was a close call.” Taehyung says in the sudden silence.

“You all did do very well. I was impressed.” You nod in agreement, keeping your eyes on the spot where Hoseok disappeared, not really paying attention to what he’s saying.

“So then we should all get the special prize.” He continues.

“Yeah. Uh-huh.”

“I was on his team, so I should go first.” he says, spinning you to face him.

“Wait. What?”

Before you can protest, Taehyung’s lips are pressing into yours. His mouth is soft and you can feel yourself sink into him. Before you even realize you’re kissing him back he’s pulled away by Namjoon.

“Taehyung!”

You’re left grasping at the air where Taehyung used to be, feeling like you’ve just been denied another taste of heaven.

“Hyung!”

They start arguing rapidly and you’re too dazed to even try and keep up. You touch your fingers to your lips in a weak imitation of Tae’s lips on yours, so soon after Hoseok’s. Something inside you shifts, a feeling of rightness. That whatever this was, it was something more and you weren’t the only one who felt it.

“Joon.” Your voice is soft when you call to him, too soft and he doesn’t hear you over the sound of himself and Taehyung, “Joon.”

You reach out and touch his arm to get his attention. He stops mid-rant to look at you. Your eyes are wide and you speak before considering the implications of your next words, “Joon, it’s fine. I don’t mind. I- I want to.”

Before you can even consider second guessing yourself, you rise up on your tiptoes, brace yourself with the hand still on his arm, and kiss him. His hand grips your arm tightly, not pulling you closer, but not pushing you away either. The kiss feels like it lasts forever and only a second before your being spun away and now it’s Jungkook’s lips against yours, hard and eager, pressing your lips into your teeth and it’s fierce… Then Jin is sweeping you away and his lips are soft, soft, soft, and the kiss is hardly more than a brushing of lips and a warm swipe of his tongue that leaves you gasping. And now you’re in Jimin’s arms and he moans as your lips meet in a moment that’s not long enough before Yoongi is pulling you away. His eyes are dark. So dark. Yours flutter closed and it’s like you’re in a dream when he kisses you, soft and warm and everything a first kiss should be. His teeth graze your bottom lip as he pulls away and you’re…

breathless.

Yoongi’s arms are still around you when you pull away from him, panting softly. You lean into his firm chest, grateful for the support after the flurry of… whatever that was. You weren’t ready to think about it too deeply, wanting to savor the moment longer.

“Right. Right.” You say into the weighted silence, trying to gather yourself. “Erm, well, well played? You all did well. Good game.” You ramble, not meeting their eyes and face feeling like it’s on fire. “What’s uh, what’s next on the agenda?”

Tae takes you from Yoongi’s arms and you go willingly. He wraps you in a hug, your cheek against his chest, and you can hear his heart pounding almost as fast as yours when he answers, “Now we get to have fun!”

Chapter Text

“What should we do first?” You ask, excitement lacing your tone. You feel like you’re floating, stomach full of champagne bubbles, eyes full of stars, and nothing short of a catastrophe can bring you down.

“What do you want to do?” Tae asks, leaning down enough to kiss the shell of your ear.

“How long do we have?” You press your shoulders into his chest.

“Technically, we have all night to explore the park.” Namjoon tells you, and you can hear the giddiness in his voice as well; the too high edge of excitement.

“What time do we have to head home?”

“We don’t!” Jungkook answers you this time, rocking up on the balls of his feet, “We’re camping out!”

“We can do that?”

He nods, settling back down on his heels before continuing, “Yeah! They have a whole campground.”

You swallow and try to make your lips look like something normal, but their excitement is contagious and you’re smiling too widely, “Tent?”

“They set one up already.” Joon says, taking over again, “It’s a little bit of a hike, but it’s in a secluded area.”

“Should we eat first?”

“Are you hungry?” Tae asks, arms tightening for a moment then relaxing. “We can if you’re hungry. You should have said something earlier.”

You giggle at his concern. You’re too wound up to even think about eating, stomach and chest tight, “No, no. I’m not hungry. Are you?” you ask them, and they shake their heads. Knowing you’re all ready to continue the nights adventure, you lick your lips then ask quietly, “Then can we go see the hippos first?”

“Of course!” Jungkook is quick to agree and starts walking back down the path.

“Wait!” You call out, looking around and only spotting six familiar heads, “Shouldn’t we wait for Hobi?”

Jin wiggles his phone, getting your attention, “Already messaged him. He’ll catch up soon.”

“If you’re sure…” you drag the word out and glance around again. Your eyes lock with Yoongi’s, he stares at you for a long moment and you tilt your head, wondering what he’s thinking.

He grins before walking over to one of their managers. You’re curious, but Taehyung is already walking the two of you in the general direction of the hippo enclosure. You’re not completely sure where it is, because you were looking more at the screens than the map, but you know it’s a bit of a walk.

Yoongi quickly catches up, smiling widely.

“What are you so happy about?” You ask, “What did you do?”

He smiles wider, eyes flashing brightly, “You’ll see.”

He slips his hand into yours and you swing it a bit, indulging in the playful feeling bubbling through you. The walk to the hippos is filled with stops to coo at other animals and laughter. You move away from Tae and Yoongi when you stop to look at the lions - pouting a bit at how far away they are and standing on your tiptoes to try and get a better look.

You yelp in surprise when hands wrap around your thighs and a head appears between your legs. The backs of your knees hit Jungkook’s shoulders and you wrap your hands around his forehead, yelling again as he lifts you in the air.

“What are you doing?!”

“Helping you see better. But now I can’t see.” He says and you can hear his smile as you peel your fingers back from where they are covering his eyes.

“I can walk.” You protest weakly when he starts following after the others, who don’t look at all surprised to see you on his broad shoulders.

“I like having your legs on my shoulders.”

“I- what?”

“I like carrying you.” He says and even shrugs, a feat you would have thought impossible.

You open your mouth to protest again, but his hands tighten around your thighs. His thumbs rubbing gently over your pants stop your words before they can form. Then you shrug too, you were still learning the language and maybe something had gotten confused in translation. When you finally make it to the hippo enclosure, one of the zoo staff is there, waiting. You tap the top of Jungkook’s head and tell him to let you down. He does so, reluctantly, and you kiss his cheek in thanks once you’re back on solid ground, your legs only a little wobbly. The staff member bows then gestures to the door next to them, indicating you should go through.

“What’s going on?” You ask, voice only a bit above a whisper.

“Not sure.”

“Hobi!” You cry out in surprise and delight when he appears suddenly behind you. His hands on your waist prevent you from turning all the way, but you turn your head to look at him. His face is so close to yours, your mouths a breath apart. You swallow, hard, eyes flickering between his dark eyes and his pink mouth. “I, uh, wanted to say I’m sorry.”

He cocks his head to the side, “For what?”

“For- for kissing you. I know I should have- should have asked. And I shouldn’t just kiss you like that. I don’t even know if you want to be kissed…”

His hands tighten and he smiles brightly, causing you to cut off mid-ramble, “You shouldn’t apologize.”

“I shouldn’t?”

He shakes his head and leans a bit closer, until your noses brush, “You don’t ever have to apologize for kissing me. I’m all yours.”

He closes the distance between you, ghosting his lips over yours lightly. You sigh and run your tongue over his bottom lip before he pulls away.

Your breath catches and your heart beats wildly in your chest at the light, barely-a-kiss, kiss and then he moves his head back further to stare into your eyes.

“I thought you were going to miss the hippos.” You finally manage to say.

He smiles again, it’s soft and sweet and makes your knees weak, “And miss seeing your excitement? Not a chance jagi.”

-0-0-0-

“Tae! Where are we going?” You ask a bit breathless from keeping up with him. His hand engulfs yours as he pulls you along at a quick pace, away from the group and into a slightly shadowy corner. He had taken your hand right after you had left the wonderful surprise hippo close encounter Yoongi set up that you would remember forever and pulled you away from everyone else. Your breath catches when he stops suddenly and pushes you back against the wall of a dark building. You can feel the rough stone through your sweater as his arms cage you in. You lick your lips and look up at him, trying to find his eyes, but the light is at his back, keeping his face in shadow. “Tae?”

“We’re okay, right?” His voice is deep and low and you press closer to the wall in response.

“Yeah. Of course, TaeTae. We’re great.” You assure him with a smile.

He leans in closer and your hands clench involuntarily, nails scraping lightly against the wall.

“You’re sure?”

His long fingers caress your cheek and he’s so close…

“O-of course I’m sure.”

“Good.” He says and closes the distance between you. His lips are soft and feather light as they move against yours, and then he’s pulling away and you choke back a mewl of protest. “I just wanted to be sure.” He takes your hand again and tugs you away from the wall without any protest, “Let’s get back to the others and ride the rides!”

-0-0-0-

The ice cream is dripping down your fingertips. You frown as you try to catch the warming sweet treat with one hand while holding it steady with the other.

“It shouldn’t be melting like this. It’s nighttime, it’s not even that hot.” You complain, scowling as more of the cool cream slides over the lip of the cone and down your already coated fingers.

Jin smiles and shakes his head at you before reaching out to take the hand not holding your melting cone steady. He brings your sticky fingers up to his mouth and you hold your breath. He presses a soft kiss to each of your fingers before slowing licking the melted treat from your skin.

You feel your cheeks heat and your heart start pounding. His smile is affectionate and his eyes are sparkling when he looks up to meet your wide-eyed gaze. He finishes thoroughly cleaning your fingers with his tongue and releases your hand.

“You have some, here.” His fingertips catch on your chin, bringing your mouth closer to his. His eyes dart back and forth between yours and he nods once, liking whatever it is he sees, then closes the distance between you.

His plush lips are soft and cool against your own heated ones and when he pulls away, your lips follow his slightly sticky ones for a moment more before you’re falling back into your chair.

“Got it.” He says, one corner of his mouth turning up in grin.

You nod in thanks, unable to speak, the still melting cone in your hand temporarily forgotten.

-0-0-0-

You look up at the roller coaster and swallow. Hard. Next to you, Hoseok stiffens.

“Princess is gonna ride with me!”

“No fair! I called dibs!”

“When?”

“Earlier.”

“Earlier when?”

“Uh… Yesterday.”

“Bullshit! You didn’t call dibs therefore, she isn’t sitting with you.”

“Boys, boys. Calm down,” Namjoon holds his hands out between Jungkook and Jimin, smugly declaring “she’s riding with me.”

“That’s Not Fair!” They protest at the same time.

You turn to Hoseok, his face looks pale and his mouth drawn, “Do you want me to ride with you?”

He gives you a grateful smile that’s too tight around the edges, “Thank you jagi, but I’m not riding,” he chuckles, “There are no cameras to make me.”

“Are you coming princess?” Jungkook asks, appearing in front of you suddenly, hand outstretched.

“I thought I was riding with Joon?”

“I convinced Namjoon-hyung to ride with you on the ferris wheel.”

“Do I get a say?” You ask teasingly as you take his hand, walking with him to the gate.

“Do you not want to ride the roller coaster?” He stops and looks at you concerned.

“I’m a little nervous.” You admit, “but it’s okay. I want to ride.”

You pull him to the waiting cart, he slides in next to you and you turn to say, something to him, but everything flies out of your head because his lips are on yours before you can open your mouth. He presses too hard, your teeth pushing against your closed lips, but it’s exciting, the way he kisses you.

As quickly as it started, it’s over and the metal bar is lowering over your laps and the cart is moving…

“If you get scared, just look at me, okay?” He tells you, taking your hand once more. “Just focus on me.”

-0-0-0-

You’re high in the air and Namjoon has his arm around you, long fingers tickling your bicep and there’s nowhere else you want to be right at that moment.

“I feel like I can see everything from up here.” You tell him, snuggling closer to his side. It’s wasn’t that cold on the ground, but higher up with the slight breeze and nothing around for protection, you were getting chilled.

Namjoon rubs his hand up and down your arm in an attempt to keep you warm and tucks your head under his chin. “Too bad we can’t see more stars.”

You hum your agreement in the back of your throat. The ferris wheel moves down a bit and the carriage you’re in rocks. Namjoon tenses next to you and his grip on your a tightens. You tilt your head up to look at him, “You okay?”

He stares at you for a long moment before leaning down to capture your lips with his. It’s a soft kiss. Soft and hesitant and filled with wonder the way you often imagined your first kiss would be. Somehow, Namjoon made you feel like a girl kissing her crush for the first time. You clench your hands in his shirt and when he pulls away, you can finally see stars.

He licks his lips, still staring at you and panting softly, “I’m perfect.”

-0-0-0-

“Jimin! It’s fine! I don’t need anything!” You laugh as he brings you to the souvenir shop.

“It’s your first time here! You need something to remember it by!” He’s laughing too as the two of you begin to wander the aisles. He’s close behind you, chest brushing your back every few steps and more than once, you lean back into him.

“What about this?” You ask, stopping suddenly when you see a keychain with a tiny tiger like the one in front of the gates.

One of his hands runs up your side, then back down while he reaches around you to play with the keychain. “Hmmm, it’s nice. If that’s what you want. But we should keep looking. Just in case.”

You shrug and move on. Jimin leaves his hand on your side as he follows.

“What about this?” He asks stopping both of you. He spins you around to face him before grabbing a bucket hat that has Seoul Grand Park embroidered on the front. He puts it on you, tugging at the edges. “It fits.”

You giggle when it slips down over your eyes, “I think we have different ideas of what fits.”

You go to lift the hat, but his hands are still holding it in place. Before you can protest, his plush lips find yours. One of his hands cups your cheek and he angles your head the way he wants. You’re putty in his hands. After kissing the others, you’re already feeling light headed, and Jimin’s kiss makes you feel like you’ll float right off the ground.

He pulls away after only a few short seconds and you try to follow, but stop when he pulls the hat off.

“I guess you’re right. It’s too big.” He’s smiling, and it’s shy, but the look in his eyes is pure mischief when he grabs onto your waist once more and directs you further into the store.

-0-0-0-

Your hand is in Yoongi’s, and you’re silently amazed at how his engulfs yours. You’re not sure where the two of you are going, and you’re not sure he knows either, but you’re more than willing to go.

You can hear Jungkook and Taehyung’s excited yelling from somewhere and assume they are on another ride, but Yoongi seems to be leading you away from the rides and back toward the zoo.

You’re still on one of the well-lit paths when he pulls you to a halt, using your joined hands to swing you around so you’re facing him. The lamp light behind him throws his face into shadow. When he doesn’t say anything after a few moments, you step closer.

“Yoongi?” His eyes look black as he searches your face and your breath catches a little at the heat in them. His arms slide around you, pulling you flush to his chest and you moan, “Yoongi.”

“There you two are.” Jin says, walking toward you with long strides. “It’s time to go. Everything’s ready for dinner.”

You look back up at Yoongi, but the heat is gone from his eyes. He looks flustered and… upset?

“Um, okay. I guess we’ll follow you then?” You ask, looking back and forth between the two men. It’s oddly tense and you can’t help but feel like you’ve done something wrong. Even when Yoongi takes one hand and Jin takes the other, the feeling remains and you start wonder if you misread Yoongi’s intentions.

-0-0-0-

“Jin-hyung told you about the red string, didn’t he?” Tae asks quietly. The two of you are laying on one of the tables, feet dangling over the edge as you look up at the night sky. Dinner had ended hours ago and everyone else had retired to the large tent to sleep, but the two of you were lingering outside, enjoying the night air.

“Yeah. He did.” You answer back just as softly. “He said you all were soulmates?”

“Yeah. We are.”

You lick your lips, seeing him shift from the corner of your eye and decide to ask before you lose your nerve, “How do you know?”

He stills at your question, “How do we know?”

“Yeah. I mean, how do you know they’re your soulmates and that you’re not, not just close?” Your chest feels tight as you wait for his answer.

“You just, know. In here.” You see him touch his chest from the corner of your eye. “It’s a feeling. Missing them when they’re away. But not just missing, it’s like… like it’s hard to function when you are not with them. Oh, you can.” He’s quick to assure when you make a sound of worry in the back of your throat, “But it’s not fun. Before you meet them, it’s not so hard.” His voice is softer now, and you turn your head to look at him, watching his mouth move as you try and catch his words, “And Jungkookie can see the strings that tie us together.”

“He can what?!” You shout in surprise, “Is there anything he can’t do?”

Tae laughs and you laugh with him, “He is the golden maknae.” He turns to look at you and his eyes are black in dying fire light, “But the string, he saw-”

“Are you two coming to bed?” Jungkook pokes his head out of the tent, hair ruffled, and rubs his eyes. “You woke me up.”

“Sorry Jungkookie.” You apologize and sit up. Tae grabs your arm and you look at him confused, “Let’s go to bed Tae.” He looks like he wants to say something, but Jungkook calls for you again. You have a feeling he’s going to tell you more about how they are connected and soulmates and you… you suddenly aren’t sure you’re ready to hear it. You place your hand over his and thread your fingers together, “Come on Tae.”

He studies your face, then lets you pull him up and lead him to the tent and you’re grateful he doesn’t try to push the subject. The others are sleeping but Jungkook pats the spot next to him and when you lay down, Taehyung crawls in behind you, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling your back tight against his chest.

“What were you going to say?” You finally whisper feeling braver now that you can’t see his face. You lock fingers with Jungkook under the large blanket and he tugs your hands to his chest.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He whispers back, kissing the top of your head lightly. “I just want to hold you now.”

You smile, eyes already drifting closed, “Okay.”

Jungkook shifts closer to you and you can hear the others shifting as well until you’re nestled in a pile of warm bodies, safe and content as you fall asleep.

Chapter Text

You stare at your phone, hurt and anger threatening to simmer over. Your eyes sting and you blink back tears.

“Princess?” Jin’s hand lands on your shoulder and you swipe at your cheeks, shoving your phone in your pocket as you do so.

“I don’t understand what his problem is.” You say, the hurt bleeding into your tone.

“What did he say?”

“He- he said he’s at his studio, working, and that I should- I should bother one of you instead of him.” You take a shuddering breath, feeling it rattle around your bruised rib cage and aching heart. “Is that what I am? A- a bother?”

Jin hisses in sympathy and pulls you into his broad chest, “No, you’re not at all.”

“Then he’s just being an ass?” You bury your face in his soft shirt and the ache eases somewhat, but not enough.

He laughs, “I think, Yoongi isn’t one to talk of his feelings easily.”

“I know that.” You say with a sigh. “I just don’t know what to do.”

He rubs your back, “What do you want to do?”

You bite your lip and pull back enough to look up into his wide, encouraging, eyes. You wanted to go confront Yoongi and make him tell you what was wrong… but you also wanted to stay here with Jin and hide from the pain that confrontation might cause.

You sigh, “Can I get a ride to the company?”

-0-0-0-

His door is locked.

Because it’s always locked.

Your fingers hover over the keypad, hesitating, what if he changed the code? You can’t hear anything from inside the room, but you can see his blurry outline through the pebbled glass. Before you can talk yourself out of it, you type in the code.

The door clicks softly when it unlocks and you breathe a sigh of relief. He doesn’t turn when you open the door, but he looks up when you close it.

“Oh, it’s you.” He grunts and turns back around.

You laugh, anger flaring and pushing back the hurt.

“Yeah. It is me.” You stalk over to him and spin his chair so he’s looking up at you, “What the fuck Yoongi?”

“I’m trying to work. Can we not do this now?” His face remains passive in light of your fury. His voice is calm, eyes dark and unreadable.

“You didn’t have work this morning. None of you did. So, no. I think we should do this now.” You snarl, pissed that your anger isn’t getting a reaction. You can feel tears pricking the corner of your eyes again and pray they don’t fall. You’re not sure what you’d do if he remained cold while you were crying. “What the fuck is your problem?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t say that. Don’t lie to me Min Yoongi.” You lean closer, trying to search his eyes for something, “You said I didn’t care, then ignored me, then told me to bother one of the others!” You let out the breath you’ve been holding through your teeth, and lean back again, crossing your arms over your chest. A few tears escape the corners of your eyes, rolling down your cheeks, “Is that what I am? A bother?”

At the sight of your tears, he pushes roughly out of his chair, finally showing some emotion.

“I know you’re not bothering me.” He says, his back to you again and hands in his hair.

You narrow your eyes, studying him. His hunched shoulders and closed posture, “Is that what this is about? Are you- are you mad that I don’t bother you?”

“I am not mad.” He turns back to you, face flushed and hands clenched at his sides, “I just think it’s bullshit you never want to spend time with me.”

Your mouth falls open on a silent gasp, “I do want to spend time with you. I thought we were all spending time together!”  You uncross your arms and step closer to him, “And if you wanted me to bother you personally so fucking bad, why didn’t you just ask?”

“I don’t think I should have to ask you to spend time with me. You spend time with the others and they don’t have to ask.” He hisses, and you reel back at the pain exposed on his face.

“I’m not a mind reader Yoongi.” You shake your head and start to reach out to him, then pull back when he flinches away.

“You should have known.” He says, chest heaving with each breath he takes.

“I didn’t.” You lick your lips and shake your head again, not sure what to do. The hurt and anger are still coursing through you and you’re not sure if you want to comfort him or slap him. “You could have just talked to me, you know. I thought we were- were friends.” You look back at him, his eyes are wide and fearful, “But no, you couldn’t. And you let this- this blow out of proportion, taking your anger and jealousy out on me. I thought…”

You trail off and hug your arms around yourself. “I’m sorry you feel that way, and I’m sorry, but you hurt me too.”

“You hurt me first.”

“You’re leaving soon, and that’s all you have to say?” You ask, looking at him, waiting to see if he’ll apologize.

He doesn’t.

“Whatever Yoongi. I’m not your mom. I won’t make you apologize when you clearly aren’t sorry.” You move to the door, “Have a good trip.”

You leave, wishing you could slam the door behind you but not quite daring to. You didn’t want to owe BigHit for damages you couldn’t afford. You don’t look back.

Chapter Text

You feel like you’re hovering.

You are hovering as you stand behind Jungkook and watch him work what looks like magic as he edits the videos he’s taken. He’s mumbling to himself, his focus on the screen completely and you feel like you’re hovering as you just… stand there. And watch.

He had asked you to come with him today while the others were getting their own projects together after filming the Run episode and you had happily agreed. You would finally see The Golden Closet, and you weren’t about to say no. Technically, they all had the rest of the week off, and didn’t have to work on any projects, but even in your short time of being around them, you knew there was rarely such a thing as ‘time off’.

“Maybe I should…” you start, stepping away, thinking about finding someone else to hang out with. Or maybe a ride back to the dorm. You hadn’t slept much the night before - a tent packed with seven men sounded romantic but had really just been you trying not to get crushed - and with school starting back on Monday, you wanted to take advantage of all the rest you could get.

“Wait!” He calls out and spins his chair around. Your hand is already on the door, but you stop at his outburst, “Don’t go.”

“Ah, okay. But you seem busy?”

He smiles and opens his arms. You walk into them willingly and let him pull you onto his lap.

“Sorry babe,” he nuzzles your neck and places a soft kiss there, “I just want to get as much of this done as I can before we leave Sunday.”

You stiffen in his arms and try to keep the surprise you feel off of your face and out of your voice, “Oh. Of course.”

He spins the two of you back around, “I’ll just be a little longer, okay?”

“Sure. No worries. Take as long as you need.” You nod, eyes locked on the computer screen, but no longer seeing it.

They were leaving in three days, and you hadn’t once heard about it. No one had mentioned a thing. And, okay, they were busy and their own people with jobs and lives, but you still thought they would have mentioned it before now…

Jungkook rests his head on top of yours, and the weight brings everything back into focus.

It was fine. They forgot to tell you because they were busy, that was all. It didn’t mean anything that they didn’t tell you.

Right?

-0-0-0-

The dorm is a disaster.

They are only going away for a week, but it feels like it could be months with the way they’re packing. You assumed that at this point in their careers they would be… better at this. Or, at the very least, more organized. But they aren’t. And it’s chaos. Complete and utter chaos.

“Don’t you have, I don’t know, someone to help you with this?” You ask Namjoon when you find him on his hands and knees in his closet.

He backs out, looking affronted, “We can handle packing our own things.”

You hold your hands up, trying to show you didn’t mean anything by it, and leave it alone after that. They were adults after all. Of course they could handle it.

You try and help at first, but with each item they ask you to fetch or find, you’re at a loss. You just don’t know what they want. They assure you it’s fine but before long Hoseok is nicely telling you to just relax. They have this and you should just rest. Over here. On the couch. Out of the way. And he’s so nice about it that you end up feeling more in the way than before.

You can’t help but watch them from your place on the couch. Even amid the chaos, they move smoothly together. A team. And you’re even more firmly reminded, as you sit back and observe, that they are soulmates, and you’re just… you.

They touch and laugh and hug and you suddenly realize that not one of them has tried to kiss you since that night at the Grand Park. Okay, so maybe Jungkook’s lips had brushed the side of your neck the other day. And, sure, you had slept next to Jin the night before, but he had been the perfect gentleman. Barely doing more than placing a hand on your waist before falling asleep. He had closed the distance when he relaxed, curling around you, your head tucked beneath his chin. But when you had woken the next morning the bed was cold and the room empty. That was Thursday night, and now it was Saturday and they were leaving tomorrow and not one of them had tried to kiss you the same way they had at the park. And you… you were feeling more and more like an observer than part of the group.

The group of seven soulmates you had started to think might be falling for you.

That group.

Fuck.

You can admit you don’t know much about soulmates. Or the red strings of fate. Or- or… anything to do with it. When you tried to research on your own, the internet had let you down spectacularly; only offering fictional stories and the occasional Real Testament from a pair of soulmates.

In school you learned from your teachers that soulmates were rare. Rarer than rare. And that even when one found their soulmate, or mates, it didn’t always last and they hardly ever volunteered any information. In those same school halls, you had heard whispers about romance and fate sprinkled liberally with giggles and sighs and dreams of finding soulmates…

Now, out in the real world, you were alone, feeling cold and uncertain about what exactly you were supposed to do when faced with seven soulmates who weren’t your own.

You wanted answers. Needed answers. And there was only one place you were going to find them.

Pulling yourself out of your thoughts, you find yourself alone in the living room. With no one to tell you to just relax, you stand and decide to look for Jin first. After all, he was the one who had told you about their red strings in the first place. And he was the oldest. So, he probably had some answers for you.

When you make it to his room, Yoongi is there too. You stop dead in the doorway as if you’ve hit a wall. You can feel the tension in the air. Looking between the two of them, you get the feeling they had stopped talking the second you arrived. Your unannounced presence only seems to add fuel to the smoldering fire.

“Did you need something?” Jin finally asks, looking over at you for a moment then back at Yoongi across from him.

The tension in the air thickens and you suddenly find it hard to breathe. You want to ask him. To talk to Jin, but Yoongi’s harsh words from the night before start ringing in your ears and you can’t make yourself ask.

“Um. Never- never mind.”

“Are you sure?” Jin is still looking at Yoongi, and you get the feeling his words aren’t really for you.

You glance at Yoongi once more before answering, “Yeah. I’m sure.”

-0-0-0-

Hoseok is gone, at the studio already you assume. He seemed to be the most organized and after a few more moments of looking, you assume Namjoon is with him. Or out. All you know is he’s not at the dorm.

With those two gone, you look for Taehyung, but find Jimin and Jungkook in Jungkook’s room playing video games first. Shrugging, you figure you might as well ask them, but when you try to talk to them - even going so far to sit on Jungkook’s bed right next to Jimin - they’re far too immersed in their game to listen. You try to speak once or twice more, only to be met with half-hearted yeahs and mmhmms before giving up.

Seeing Jungkook’s things still scattered, you remind them to finish packing and try not to feel like you’re nagging when they just nod and give you tight smiles instead of answering.  

They’re already staring back at the screen before you’re out the door.

You finally find Taehyung in the kitchen, thankfully alone, and take a steadying breath. This was it. You would be able to ask him and hopefully get the answers you were looking for.

When he had first told you they were all soulmates, you hadn’t fully thought it through, too high on the night and fun and sugar… but now that things had calmed down, mostly, and they were leaving for a week, you had to know.

“Tae?”

“Baby?” He doesn’t look up from his phone and you know he’s double checking things. However, he does angle himself toward you to let you know he’s listening.

“The other night…” you start then trail off, inhaling deeply when he nods for you to continue, “we were- you mentioned being soulmates?”

“Mmmmhmm.” He’s still not looking at you and normally that would irk you, but today you were thankful. You weren’t sure you could talk to him about this if he was looking at you.

“But- but, you kissed me? You all k-kissed me.” You finish, chest and throat tight as you wait for his answer to your question that wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah,” he smiles, and it’s that wide boxy smile you adore, then laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and still not looking at you, “Like I told you, we have a bond and sometimes-”

“Taehyungie, there you are,” Yoongi pops his head around the corner. His eyes twitch in your direction, but then he refocuses on Taehyung. You don’t listen to what he says next, don’t even try. Because when Yoongi had looked at you… it was like he was looking at nothing. There was no recognition. No hurt. No anger. No anything.

Turning away, you wrap your arms around yourself in an attempt to keep it together while everything around you felt like it was falling apart.

Slowly, you gather your things, wandering in and out of their rooms and pretending it doesn’t hurt when none of them ask you why. Once you have everything, you make your way down the hall, wondering if you’re reading too much into it. Maybe they’re just… really that busy?

You stop in front of Yoongi and Jin’s room. The door is closed and you hear Yoongi’s music from the other side. Stepping closer, you lay a hand on the door, followed by your forehead. You want to make things right with Yoongi, you do, but you’re not sure how. He had seemed so upset. And so were you. And part of you still couldn’t help but feel he should be the one apologizing to you.

But still… they’re leaving and you feel like maybe you should at least try to talk to him. You place your hand on the door knob, bracing yourself, when you hear voices coming through the door during a lull in the music.

“I don’t want to talk to her.”

His voice cuts through you like a knife.

He didn’t want to talk to you.

You back away from the door slowly, he didn’t want to talk to you. You feel ridiculous for not seeing it sooner. He didn’t want to talk to you. None of them did. You had overstayed your welcome and the rest of them were too nice to tell you.

But not Yoongi. Not him.

He didn’t want to talk to you.

You were unwanted.

You take another step away from the door trying to control the urge to run, eyes already burning with unshed tears. You can hear Jin’s voice, but you’re too far to actually hear what he’s saying. And you don’t want to hear it. Not anymore.

When you walk out the front door moments later, no one says goodbye.

-0-0-0-

You’ve already been home for an hour, maybe two, when you get a message alert.

You stare at the phone, wondering if you even want to pick it up. You hadn’t cried, but you were starting to feel empty. Like every good emotion was drip, drip, dripping right out of you, leaving everything around you a little more bland.

It goes off again.

You sigh and reach for it across the bed where you dropped it when you first came home.

Namjoon: Where did you go?

Namjoon: I can’t find you at home and the dorm isn’t that big…

Namjoon: baby? Where are you?

You scrunch your nose, now he was worried. And it hurt. In a dull, distant sort of way.

You: I’m at home.

Namjoon: where?

You: at home.

You set the phone back down, even though you know that won’t be the end of it. A minute passes. Then two. And you think you were wrong. That was the end of it and your breath catches and it’s sharp in your chest…

The phone rings.

Once- you stare at it, wondering how such a sharp and devastating pain can leave so quickly in the wake of that ringtone.

Twice- you want to answer it, but your breath still feels like it’s caught and you’re not sure you can speak just yet.

Three times…

“Hello?”

“Baby? Where are you? Is everything okay?”

Namjoon’s voice is deeper than usual with worry you can almost feel through the phone, and you want to laugh. Laugh because it’s a relief that he’s worried. Laugh because maybe the best week of your life wasn’t all one-sided. Laugh because he’s being nice and you know you’re reading too much into it and you can’t help it.

“I told you, I’m at my apartment. And yeah, everything is fine Joon.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I was tired.”

You lie. Sort of. You are tired. But not physically. Emotionally. You’re drained. He doesn’t say anything after your lie, and neither do you. You just listen to him breathe on the other end of the line, wondering what could possibly be going through his wonderful, beautiful head…

“Okay.”

He pauses and you hold your breath.

“We’ll miss you. All of us.”

“I’ll- I’ll miss all of you too.” You say like it’s not a big deal. Like you weren’t expecting more than we’ll miss you. “Have fun.”

He’s quiet again. His breathing even and slow and you remember falling asleep next to him.

“Thank you. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

You hang up and bring your phone to your chest, curling around it. And it hurts and it hurts and it hurts. Because this goodbye feels like it’s your last.  

-0-0-0-

Days pass and the hollow feeling in your chest where you think your heart used to be remains.

You miss them.

You lay in bed and hug Shooky to your chest. The BT21 plushies had arrived the day after they left along with a note. Something to remember us by, it had said. And you had laughed and laughed and laughed, only it had felt like you were crying, even as the tears refused to fall.

As if you could forget them.

They were everywhere. Your clothes still smelled like them and your skin still remembered the feel of their hands and your lips… you open your laptop and pull up another one of their past interviews. The ache in your chest fades some when you see them, even if it’s just through your laptop screen. Before long you get lost in YouTube compilations. One after the other declaring, showing, how much they love each other.

And suddenly, it hits you. Why everything hurt.

You love them.

And not just as friends. You were in love with them. Individually and together. You love them.

The revelation courses though you.

In a little over a week, you had fallen head over heels in love. And now you know why that goodbye from Namjoon had hurt so badly. Because you wanted to hear him say I love you.

Wanted any of them to say those words.

But watching those videos, seeing how much they loved each other…

You felt like an idiot.

Overwhelmed with guilt, you close your laptop, not even bothering to exit out of the tabs. You roll onto your back and laugh up at your ceiling, the sound humorless.

They were soulmates. It was so obvious they were in love and you… you were just messing it up. Coming between them.

No wonder Yoongi was so mad, you think, you were taking his soulmates away.

Suddenly, the tension between Jin and Yoongi, the way the rest of them had all but avoided you when they were together, it all made sense.

You were messing things up.

What about when you kissed?

An accident.

Taehyung had told you that soulmates were connected. You realize now that when you had kissed Hoseok, it must have caused some sort of- of chain reaction and they had all kissed you… and you had let them. Welcomed their kisses. And even now, knowing what had happened, you still wanted them.

Wanted more.

And you couldn’t.

Wouldn’t.

You laugh again and wish you could just cry. Maybe that would make this easier. But you can’t cry. The tears burn and prick at the corners of your eyes but refuse to fall. Mind made up, you set the Shooky plush aside and gather the clothes you still hadn’t washed because you wanted to smell like them a little longer and you ignore the grey, empty feeling slipping between your rib cage and wrapping itself around your heart.

You wouldn’t come between them. Not anymore. Throwing the clothes in the wash and adding as much soap as you dared, you close the lid with a decisive bang. You would remove yourself from the situation and they would be fine again. They would go back to their normal lives, and so would you. And everything would be fine.

Chapter Text

You felt like Bella Swan.

Sure, you weren’t pining after a vampire stalker. And no, it hadn’t been months, but still, your days were slipping away from you. Time barely held any meaning. You got up when your alarm told you to and went to bed when you couldn’t keep your eyes open a second longer. Days passed and they may as well have been weeks or months or years for all you knew.

Or cared.

The first day went fine. If you considered staring at your phone and trying desperately to talk yourself out of answering when Namjoon called once they were settled in the hotel, fine. You knew they were at the hotel from his message. The message where he asked you to call him back. The message where he said he wanted to hear your voice. The message where he told you he missed you already. The message you finally deleted after listening to it countless times because just his voice made your heart ache until all you could think about was cool night air and his warm lips pressed against yours.

The second day, you thought was going better. You woke up and showered and you didn’t cry when you saw TaTa laying on your pillow where you left him after clutching him in your sleep. You even managed to make it through your school day only thinking about them every time you looked at the clock. So, it was a better day. Until that night. When Taehyung calls. You clutch your phone against your chest and let it ring and ring and ring and try to pretend like the wet spot on your pillow wasn’t from the silent tears streaming down your face.

The third day…

The third day it really hits you. That they are gone. You’ve shoved the BT21 plushies they sent you in the top of your closet and the note that came with them in your nightstand drawer. And late that night, when your phone rings -Jungkook’s face lighting up your screen - the stab of pain that has you doubled over only lasts for a few minutes. He calls you twice more, and each time hurts more than the last until you’re hand hovers above the phone, desperate to answer. To end the pain. Just as you start to give in, the ringing stops. You hold your breath, waiting for a fourth call. The call you know you will be helpless to ignore. You wait and hold your breath…. but it never rings. He’s doesn’t leave a message, and you tell yourself you’re grateful for that.

When Jin calls on the fourth day, you stare at his face, but make no move to pick up the phone. You rub your aching chest and wonder if the pain of giving them up was really worth it. You had already decided that you were letting them go. Decided it was for the best. Maybe it didn’t feel the best for you, but that wasn’t what was important, they were more important than your feelings. You knew talking to them again would break you. You’d go running back and make things worse and worse and worse. And you couldn’t, wouldn’t, do that to them.

That’s the night you think about leaving the chat. Your finger hovers over the button, but each time you think you’re going to press it… you don’t. Seconds pass. Minutes. Hours. And in the end, you decide it’s not worth the energy.

Instead, you ignore the messages as they pile up and up and up until the counter maxes out at 999+. You’ve never actually seen it that high before, and know that they are still going. You could read them.

If you wanted to.

But you don’t.

You glare at the red notifications before pressing the power button and turning the screen black. Avoiding the temptation to see what they are saying. To know what they are talking about. Wondering the whole time if they are talking about you or if you’re already becoming a side note.

Five days after they’ve left and five days after you’ve decided to step away, no one calls.

And somehow, that hurts worst of all.

Hoseok’s frantic voicemail on day six finally prompts you to send a message. You type out the words ‘I’m fine, just busy’ and part of you hopes they spot the lie and the other part doesn’t care. Because you’re not fine. You’ve never been less fine.

And that was fine too.

Jimin calls you twice the day before they come back. Each harsh ring is a reminder that you had to change your ringtone or risk insanity every time it went off, playing DNA like it meant nothing. You stare at the phone, waiting for his image to fade, feeling weaker than ever before. You rub your chest and stare, thinking, if he calls again, I’ll answer. If he just calls one more time… you stare, watching and waiting, but it never rings.

Each call and message had hurt more than the last, but you can’t bring yourself to cut them off so completely, because even though it hurt, it meant you were able to feel. There was a hole where your heart used to be and during the day, you would catch yourself rubbing at it trying to ease the constant empty feeling. You hadn’t even realized how hard you had fallen for them until they weren’t a part of your life anymore. It was pathetic, and you knew it was pathetic, but that didn’t stop you. You would get used to it eventually.

Who really needed a heart anyways?

-0-0-0-

Jimin stares at his phone, a frown firmly in place. This was the second one of his calls you had ignored and, while he hadn’t called you before, he knew you had his number. His thumb hovered over the call button. He shouldn’t call you again. Not so soon after the other two, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Your single message in the group chat had hardly been reassuring. Just as he’s about to press the button again, someone knocks on his room door.

Phone in hand, he opens it to see everyone else piled in the hall. Namjoon notices the phone in his hand and nods at it as he moves past and further into the room. “She’s not talking to you either?”

Jimin closes his door once the six of them file in, finding spots to sit either on the furniture or floor.

“No. I’ve tried to call her twice now. Let her know we’d be back soon, but she’s not answering.”

“Three times.” Jungkook says from his spot on the coffee table.

“Do you think she’s mad at us?” Hoseok asks.

“I don’t know. I didn’t think she had a reason to be upset at the rest of us.” Namjoon says with a pointed look at Yoongi.

Yoongi slides down the couch, slouching and crossing his arms. He doesn’t say anything, but avoids their accusing gazes.

“Maybe it’s because she’s knows we’re soulmates?” Taehyung says, looking around at everyone, “She seemed really nervous when she asked me about it before we left.”

“Hmmm. Maybe.” Namjoon shrugs, “Finding out that your boyfriends are also your soulmates could be a bit of a shock.”

“It probably doesn’t help that there are seven of us. And on top of that, we’re idols. None of that would be easy to deal with.” Jin points out.

“So you think she’s just… scared? Or overwhelmed?” Jimin asks, looking at your picture on his lock screen. They had only been gone 6 days, but he already missed the way you felt in his arms. Hugging the others helped, but it wasn’t the same, and he knew he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“So what do we do?” Jungkook asks.

“We should continue to take things slow. Go at her pace.” Namjoon suggests, then chuckles, “It’s not like we don’t have the time; we’re not going anywhere.”

“You still need to apologize.” Jin tells Yoongi, drawing their attention back to him.

He sighs and runs a large hand down his face, “I know. And I will. Once we get home.” When they all continue to stare, he throws his hands up, almost hitting Hoseok and Tae next to him, “I will! But not over the phone. We’ll be home tomorrow and she- she deserves an apology face to face.”

Jin nods, satisfied. They would see you tomorrow and everything would be fine.

-0-0-0-

Their return home is almost too much. The pictures and videos saturate the internet until you have to turn off your phone to keep from seeing them. Still, you’re glad they’re back. Even if you were cutting yourself off from them, you still cared. Too much. And you were glad they were back and safe.

Their call a mere hour later shouldn’t have surprised you, but it did. You startled in your seat when you felt your phone vibrate. Discreetly, you slide the still vibrating phone from your pocket and stare down at it, biting your lip to keep it from quivering. You thought you’d have more time to get used to the idea of them being back and being right there, before this. You only look at Namjoon’s picture on your screen for a few seconds before you flip your phone over and slide it back in your pocket, turning it on silent in the process.

You thought not talking to them while they were away was hard, but not talking to them when they were so close was a new form of torture. You rub your chest and start taking notes once more. The corners of your eyes sting and it’s getting harder and harder to see your paper, still you press on. Determined to ignore the feelings swirling around the dark hole in your chest.

Soon, you were keeping your phone on silent all the time. Hardly daring to even look at it. You were sure if you just ignore it, ignored them, they would stop. You needed them to stop. Because with each call and text, you were that much closer to giving up and giving in.

Looking back on it, you should have realized that your radio silence would not deter them.

The calls and messages kept coming and you kept ignoring until the day you were leaving school and saw an all too familiar black SUV pulled up at the curb. You couldn’t see inside, but you knew it was them. Parked right there, in broad daylight, in front of the building of all places. Already halfway between them in the building, you’re seized by indecisiveness that makes you freeze in your track. They are so close. It wouldn’t take more than half a minute for you to get to them. To see them. Touch them. Hold them. You want it. You crave them so sharply you almost cry out. Instead, you pray they haven’t seen you, turn tail, and run.

The next day is worse.

Worse because they don’t call.

Worse because they manage to convince one of your advisors to call you down for a ‘meeting’.

Worse because when you round the corner, there they are. Glorious and waiting. You halt between one step and the next, and only for a moment when your eyes land on Yoongi, before you’re running once again. Tears blur your vision and your heart is pounding in your ears and you’re not sure how much longer you can keep running.

-0-0-0-

Three days had passed since you’d heard from them.

Three days of you trying, and failing, to convince yourself that it was a good thing.

But still, no matter what you tell yourself, you can’t seem to forget that afternoon.

When you had run away from them, literally, you hadn’t realized they had actually seen you. Within seconds Jungkook had caught up to you, gripping your elbow tightly and spinning you around to face them.

The smile you tried to give them was forced, as you lied through your teeth and said hello, explaining that you hadn’t known they were there. Before any one of them could open their mouths and say a word, you stepped out of Kookie’s loosened grasp, told them you were super busy with homework and would see them another time.

You turned around, walking away from them again. You didn’t look back, but if you had, you would have seen the looks of concern, quickly followed by ones of determination that crossed all seven men’s faces when they saw the droop in your shoulders.

You sigh and open your eyes, setting out your books and notebooks and pencils, preparing to study. Again. Just like you had been almost every night since their return. Time passes quickly and you’re just starting to think about dinner when it happens.

The first knock is quiet enough that you almost miss it. You stare at the door, not entirely convinced you heard it until it sounds again, slightly louder this time. You weren’t expecting anyone, but wondered if your sounds of frustration had finally been too much for your neighbors. You stand, making your way to the door. Before you can open it, they knock again.

“I know, I know. I’m coming. I didn’t mean to- oh.” You stop suddenly when you open the door to the last people you expected to see. “What are you doing here?” You ask, and even you can hear the aggression in your voice.

On the other side of the door, Namjoon looks startled at your tone and holds out the bag in his hand placently.

“We, uh, brought food?” He says, voice low and shy, a noise behind him draws your attention and you notice how they’re shifting nervously, waiting for you to let them in.

“I-,” you swallow thickly, “sorry. Come in.” You step away and open the door wider, letting them file in. “You surprised me. It’s- it’s been awhile.” You say as you close the door, licking your lips nervously. Awhile. Bitter laughter wells in your throat. You choke it down. Awhile. It had been almost three weeks since you had last seen them like this. You weren’t counting their impromptu visit to your school. They had been close, but having them in your apartment again felt much more intimate.

You’re still staring at the door, lost in thought and scared to face them when you hear movement behind you.

A hand lands on your stiff shoulder. It’s heavy and comforting and your breath hitches. You quickly pull away, spinning to face them, but keeping your head down to keep them from seeing the heartbreak on your face.

“Baby?”

You look up to see them looking at you, obviously concerned and upset and you….

“Thank you for stopping by. You should. You should head home.” You say, voice hoarse from trying to hold back the emotions overwhelming you at seeing them here. In your space. You push back the memories of the last time they were there. How it had started one of the best weeks of your life. And here they were again, so close. Close enough to touch. Your hands curl into fists as you fight the desire to reach out. They had just gotten there, but you needed them to leave, before you did something you would all regret.

Again.

Yoongi steps closer and reaches his hand out to you once more, stopping when you shift out of reach. Ducking his head and looking up at you from beneath his lashes he says, “I’m sorry.”

And his voice is soft. So soft. And almost understanding and you…

You break.

You’re in his arms the instant the first tear falls and before you can blink they are surrounding you. Holding you. And in that moment, you hate that you’ve been denying yourself.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. So sorry.” You repeat over and over. Your arms are folded against your chest as you physically try to hold yourself together. You hadn’t meant to start crying. But having them so close was too much for your resolve.

“Shhh… shhh… it’s okay.”

“We missed you baby.”

“It’s okay jagi. It’ll all be okay.”

Their hands are in your hair and rubbing your back and you’re starting to feel warm again in a way you haven’t felt in far to long.

“I’m sorry.” You say again, finally starting to calm down. “I- I missed you too.”

Chapter Text

You laugh a bit as you try to pull away from Yoongi, you felt kind of silly for breaking down like that - even if it did make you feel better - but his arms tighten around you, keeping you close, until all you can hear is the sound of his heart and yours beating in unison. You’re sure if you try, you could hear the others too. Hear the way your hearts beat as one in this moment. You also tried not to think about how often their hearts beat insync, while yours was constantly trying to catch up. You’re still in his arms, thinking about pulling away anyways. Thinking about ruining the moment before it ruins you. But his arms feel too good. 

Feel too much like home. 

“Please? I missed you so much. Let me hold you longer.” 

His voice is deep and pleading and you can feel your heart breaking all over again. You shut your eyes tight against the feeling, determined not to cry again. Determined to keep all your emotions locked away in your chest once more. Still… you had missed them too. So much more than you were sure was normal. Part of you felt guilty for even trying to leave them at all. And how could you have ever wanted to? When it felt this? Like having a purpose. Like having a soul. You close your eyes tighter until you see stars behind your eyelids. 

Having them back again… it hurt, but it was a pain you welcomed as the hole in your chest filled once more. Filled and filled and filled until it was full to bursting and overflowing, your love for them spilling out and filling your body, making you immobile with the strength of it. They made you whole and you weren’t sure how you would ever give this up, again. 

You cling to Yoongi, holding onto him so tightly your arms start to ache. And still you can’t hold him close enough. The sound of his heart is all you can hear, and it’s everything. This one last time,  you think, this one last time I’ll give in. But after this…. 

Someone wraps around you from behind and you feel like crying all over again when you hear Jimin whisper, “We missed you so much Jagi. I missed you. Missed this.” 

One by one they surround you, closing you in and holding you up with their love.  Your breath hitches on a sigh, so you bite your lips, even more determined to keep your feelings to yourself. No matter how much it hurt. 

How would you let them go again?

-0-0-0-

The next day, everything is back to normal. 

And the day after that is normal too. 

And the day after that. 

Each day that follows your reunion is normal.

Sort of normal.

Almost normal. 

Not really normal. 

But you could pretend. 

You could pretend it was normal and pretend like your heart wasn’t constantly mending and breaking over and over and over with each touch, each glace, each brush of lips. 

And every time, you pulled away first. 

Had to pull away first. 

You knew better. Knew the truth. Knew that they were too caught up in, in, in… whatever it was that connected the seven of them. It was the same thing keeping you apart from them. 

“Y/N?” 

You blink and shake your head, focusing on Jimin standing in front of you. 

“Sorry?” you can see from the concern in his eyes that he’d probably been trying to get your attention for a while. 

“I was seeing if you wanted to go for a walk with me?” He asks, holding his hand out shyly. 

You look around at the others in various states of lounging. They had been busy packing again and you wondered if they were going on another trip. From the amount being packed, you assumed it would be a much longer one. 

“Jagiya? You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” Jimin’s voice is soft as he starts to lower his hand. 

“No! No. I want to go for a walk. As long as we won’t get in trouble?” 

You slip your hand in his and he smiles, tugging you toward the door, “No. We won’t. But we can’t go alone either. Hyun-ssi will come with us. But he won’t be too close.” 

You nod. Of course he would have to come. You bite your lip and try to remember which bodyguard Hyun was… but his face doesn’t immediately come to mind. You were still nervous about being out in public with them, the last thing you wanted was to cause trouble, but you felt safe with Hyun and Jimin. At least, in this neighborhood. 

The night air is cool and you breathe a little easier once you exit the building. You didn’t want to admit it, but seeing them pack made you feel… you didn’t want to think about it. Because if you thought about them leaving, you’d think about missing them. And if you thought about missing them, you’d think about how much you love them. And you couldn’t. 

Jimin’s hand is warm in yours, his rings cool and smooth against your fingers. He swings your joined hands a little, and you smile, looking back just enough to see Hyun following you a couple yards back. 

“We’re moving.” 

Jimin’s sudden declaration startles you to a halt. “What?”

He looks back at you, confused. He had taken a few more steps before realizing you weren’t walking anymore, your hands stretched the distance between you.

“Moving. PD-hyung is getting us a bigger place. We will all have our own rooms…” He laughs nervously, “Well everyone else will. Hobi-hyung has agreed to still share a room with me.”  

“I- oh. Okay. That’s why you’re packing so much.” You start walking again, a little hesitant. 

He nods, “We will get all our personal stuff packed, but a moving company will take it over there next week.” 

“Oh. That’s- that’s soon.” You don’t know what to say. You’re happy they are moving to a larger place, but you were worried that would make it harder to see them… then again, maybe that would be a good thing. 

“Yoongi-hyung has your key. And- and- you can set up your room too. Any way you like.” 

“M- my room?” 

This time you both stop, you stare at the top of Jimin’s head as he looks down at the ground, shuffling his feet.

“Yeah. Your room. If you want it. You- you don’t have to move in right away!” He’s quick to assure you, looking into your eyes now, his own wide and slightly panicked. “But it’s yours. Whenever you want it. And you can still sleep with us. With any of us. If- if you want. But we want you to. To move in.” 

“Wow.” You blink, then blink again. Not sure what to say. “I- thank you. But um, can I think about it?” 

Jimin looks a little sad, but readily agrees, “Of course. The room is yours though. If you want it. Even if it’s just for a night. But we want you to stay. I want you to stay.”  

You soften, just a little, and lean in, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, “Thank you.”

-0-0-0-

You look down at your phone, still ringing in your hand. Namjoon’s face on the screen… and no voice on the other end. You feel your lip curl in annoyance. You know you had been ignoring their phone calls while they were away, but why were they ignoring your phone calls now? 

“This is Kim Namjoon. I can’t come to the phone right now but if you leave…” 

You hang up. 

“Fuck.” 

You scroll through and find the one number they gave you but you hadn’t used yet. It led directly to the studio. You hadn’t needed to use it before, but desperate times and all that.

“BigHit Studios” 

She answers on the first ring and you breathe a sigh of relief and speak quickly into the phone, “Hi! I’m trying to reach Namjoon? Or any of the guys really. Are they there?” 

“Miss…” you can hear the disdain in her tone, “this is a place of business, not a fan cafe.” 

“Wait, what? No! I’m not a fan! I mean, I am, who isn’t? But that’s not- this is Y/N!” You stammer desperately. “I should be on the list of approved calls!” 

“Mmmmm…” she hums and you can just picture her pursed lips. She makes a big todo of shuffling papers and you try and stifle your growl of annoyance. “There isn’t any Y/N on this list. Better luck next time.” 

She ends the call with a click, leaving you staring indignantly at your phone. 

“What a bitch!” 

“Whoa. You okay?” 

You blink and quickly hold your phone to your chest, “Uh, yeah?” 

A guy from your class tilts his head and squints his eyes at you. You continue to stare, unsure where to go with the conversation. You’ve seen him around and you’re sure you’ve heard his name at least once, but you keep drawing a blank. 

“You don’t sound too sure. What’s up?” 

You study him for a long moment while you debate answering. His face is open and friendly, his smile is curious and he is definitely cute… 

“I just… my friends dropped me off today, then this class and got canceled and now I need a ride and uh… they aren’t here. Or um… answering their phones. So… “ 

He scrunches his mouth before it widens into a smile, “I can give you a ride.” 

“I- um…” you don’t know what to say. His offer is unexpected considering you’ve never done more than maybe, maybe, said hi to him in class. You glance at your phone again. Not only have they not returned your calls, you weren’t sure how much longer you’d have to wait until they did. You smile, “Sure, a ride would be great!”  you’re halfway through the parking lot when a thought stops you, “Um, no offense but I, uh, don’t remember your name.” 

He smiles and laughs, obviously far from upset, “No worries. It’s Mark.” 

“Mark.” You repeat his name, “Hi Mark. I’m Y/N.” You hold out your hand, feeling silly, but doing it anyways. 

He takes your hand in his and winks, “I know.” 

He doesn’t let go of your hand as he leads you to his car, and even though something about it feels off… you let him. 

The walk to his car is seems to take longer than it probably really does, and when he lets go of your hand to open your door, you wipe it on your clothes as discreetly as possible. 

“So, where to?” 

You give him directions to your apartment, even though you were suppose to go see the guys new place today. You didn’t know where it was, and even if you did, you wouldn’t lead a stranger to their front door. 

“Oh! I know that area!” He exclaims as he starts the car, “There’s a great cafe over there… do you want to go?” 

He leaves the question hanging. You look down at your still silent phone, then back at his charming smile. Holding his hand might have felt a little weird… but still…. 

You smile back, “Alright! I bet I know the one.” 

-0-0-0-

“She isn’t answering.” Jungkook looks over at the others, all staring at their phones as he had been. 

“Do you think she’s in trouble?” Jimin asks, worry lacing his voice. 

“P-probably not?” Taehyung offers, looking over at Yoongi and Jin to see their reactions. Their frowns are less than reassuring. 

“I just don’t understand why she wouldn’t leave a message at the front desk?” Yoongi says, glaring at his phone and wishing he’d asked you to share your location well before now. If he had, then they wouldn’t be in this mess. 

“Look, maybe we should just… go to the school? She couldn’t have gotten that far without a car, right?” 

Hoseok winces a bit at Namjoon’s words. They had picked you up for breakfast before class and were planning to pick you up after as well, but you had called a full hour before any of them had anticipated. 

“Yeah.” Jin says and stands, making the decision, “Let’s start at the school and keep trying to get ahold of her. It’ll be alright. We’ll find her.” 

-0-0-0-

“Oh my god, no you didn’t!” you laugh so hard you can feel your drink trying to make its way out of your nostrils. 

“I did! It was an accident!” 

“I can’t believe that fire in the chem lab was you!” your belly hurts from laughing and you almost hate to even think it, but you’re having fun. 

Mark is fun. 

“Excuse me a moment.” 

You nod, still chuckling and sipping your drink as you pull out your phone, only to gasp and choke on what little liquid is in your mouth. 

38 missed calls. 

You didn’t even want to look at the messages. 

“Shit.” you say under your breath as you clutch your phone. You hadn’t done anything wrong, but you still felt bad that you had missed so many calls and messages from them. Especially considering how many times you had tried to call them. Opening your messages you shoot them a quick At the cafe near my place! before closing out just as quickly. 

They call you before you even have a chance to put your phone away, “Hello?” 

“Jagi, which cafe?” Hoseok’s voice is stern and you don’t think before answering. “We will be right there.” 

“Everything okay?” 

You jump a little in your seat, not having heard Mark’s return. “Y-yeah.” you hurry to hang up your phone, ignoring Hoseok’s “Who. Is. That?” on the other end and refocusing on Mark, “My friends are on their way to pick me up I guess.” 

“Ah, okay.” His tone is unsure but he sits back down, “Can I continue to enjoy your company until they get here?” 

You can feel your face heat, flattered by his attention. He was being incredibly friendly, and you found yourself enjoying his company more. Already thinking that you had wasted so much time sitting next to others in class when you could have been sitting next to Mark. Warmth fills your chest at the thought of having another friend. You loved the guys, really, but having a friend you could hang out with anywhere would be nice too. 

“Of course.” 

You barely have time to pick up the conversation when you see a familiar SUV pull up out of the corner of your eye. You try not to let them distract you from the conversation at hand, but through the window you can see them all getting out. 

The door opens and you stutter a little, but continue until you feel a large familiar hand land on your shoulder. 

“Y/N.” 

You turn and smile up at Namjoon, but the smile quickly fades when you see the way he’s staring at Mark. The way they are all staring. 

“Is something wrong?” You’re confused by their actions. 

Namjoon squeezes your shoulder a little, “Come on, baby, let’s get out of here, okay?” 

“I- um- Mark?” 

He flashes you a smile, but doesn’t meet your eyes, “It was fun hanging out with you. I hope we can do it again soon.” 

You can hear the dismissal in his voice. And, even though you’re confused and a little annoyed, you stand. “Right. Thanks for the ride and the drink Mark.” you turn to face your friends, “You can stop with this macho act now.” you say, rolling your eyes and mumbling, “you’re acting like jealous boyfriends, sheesh.” 

You miss the look all eight men share as you grab your bag and toss it over your shoulder before letting Namjoon guide you out, his hand now on your lower back. 

You start to slide in the car, but look back to see that Hoseok is still in the cafe, talking to Mark through a smile that looks forced. 

“What is Hoseok doing? Apologizing?” 

“Hm, maybe.” 

“What do you mean maybe? That looks like a pretty intense conversation.” 

“Baby girl, come here. “ Yoongi calls from inside the car, holding his hand out to you.

You look back at Hoseok one more time before taking Yoongi’s hand and letting him pull you into his lap. His arms slide around your waist and you lean back against him, feeling better than you have all day. “I still want to know.” 

“I know baby.” Yoongi whispers in your ear, making you shiver as his long fingers stroke your stomach, “He’s just setting the record straight.” 

“About what?” 

“About us.” 

You roll your eyes again, “Oh my god.. He’s really telling him not to tell that he saw superstars? Mark doesn’t seem the type to gossip.” 

The others laugh while Yoongi presses his nose against the back of your neck, “Let’s hope not baby.” 

Chapter Text

You make your way into the lecture hall, looking for Mark as you do. You fully intend to apologize to him for the guys’ behavior and your abrupt exit once you have a minute to talk. When you spot him, you smile, feeling something closer to normal than you had last week. You shake your head, deciding not to examine that feeling too closely. You start to make your way toward the empty seat next to him, but his wide eyes and the way he quickly looks away from you has you hesitating. The door to the room closes and you have no more time to find another seat as class is about to start. You move the bag he hastily put in the seat and set yours down next to it. You assume his odd behavior is due to the other day and you can feel your face turn red as Mark looks at you again from the corner of his eye.

You take that as a sign to lean in, but keep half an eye on the professor.

“Sorry about the other day,” you whisper, trying to keep your voice low enough not to carry, “I know Hoseok already apologized, but I wanted to tell you that I had a good time, I hope we can grab coffee again...” you trail off as his eyes get wider the longer you talk.

Mark turns to look fully at you now, his eyes comically wide as he shakes his head, “I didn’t know.”

Your eyebrows furrow, “Didn’t know what?”

A throat clears and you look down to see the professor giving you a pointed look. You bow your head in apology and flip open your notebook to a blank page, quickly writing “didn’t know what?”

Mark looks at the note you gently shove in his direction, looks at the professor, then you, before scribbling back “that you were dating them”

You blink once.

Twice.

..what…?

He scribbles again, seeing… whatever look is on your face “I swear I won’t tell. Hoseok-ssi explained and I signed the agreement”

You look up and meet his slightly panicked eyes, but you can’t do more than nod, not really understanding. You’re sure your face doesn’t look much better. You can feel your eyebrows trying to touch as you work through what he said.

Why would they tell him you were dating? Were you dating? No. You would know if you were. Right?

You would.

You definitely would.

Probably.

You spend the rest of the day pretending to listen to your classes, but your mind is reeling. You send off a quick text telling the guys you’ll be late. That you needed to run by your apartment before going over to their new place. Your new place. If you wanted.

Maybe you were dating?

How did Soulmates date? Was that a thing??

You needed an expert.

As class finally comes to an end, you find your way into a secluded courtyard, in desperate need of advice.

Thankfully, the phone only rings twice before she picks up.

“Bitch! I thought you forgot about me with all that hot man meat floating around you.”

You make a noise somewhere between a choked laugh and a pained squeak.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” Her tone shifts immediately, catching on to the fact that something isn’t quite right.

“Maybe?” You squeak out, throat suddenly tight. Are you allowed to tell her what’s going on? But who else can you talk to? That would understand? “I- I-”

“Bitch if you’re pregnant you better spit it out. Right Now.”

Her accusation makes you laugh. “Absolutely not. Definitely not. You have to be doing things to get pregnant.”

“Are you telling me you are surrounded by, arguably, one of THE hottest boy bands in existence and you HAVEN’T jumped one of them?”

“...yes?”

“Right, I see where I rank. Not even getting dicked down and you’re still ignoring me. You are so lucky I love you.” She sighs dramatically into the phone and the tightness in your throat eases.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you. If I tell you everything that’s been happening, will that count as a sufficient apology?”

“Go on…”

And you do. You tell her everything. From finding out that they were actual, factual, really real soulmates, to Jungkook being able to see the strings. To the panicked kiss that led to more kisses, to the argument with Yoongi. The almost unbearable pain of them leaving for a week and the way you ignored them. Mark, the dorm, and Mark again and his admission that Hoseok told him you were dating…

“Hold on, hold on. So you kissed everyone twice and went on these cute mini dates, but NOT with Yoongi, and you were surprised his feelings were hurt?”

“That’s not why…” You start to say, but with dawning horror realize what an idiot you’ve been and how awful he must feel. “Oh my gods, I’m an idiot”

“Yeah, but you’re my idiot. I don’t care if you’re dating seven idols, you’ll always be my idiot first.”

You snort into the phone, “I’m glad we cleared that up. Fuck, I have to make it up to him.”

“Yeah you do.” She says and you can practically hear her wiggling her eyebrows through the phone.

“I’ll come back to that. What do you think about the other stuff?”

“About you being lovable and oblivious?”

“Obliv- hey!” You sputter.

“I’m right and you know it. That’s really why you called me. Don’t lie to yourself.” You roll your eyes as she continues “But I think he meant it. That they think you’re dating. Do you really think they would do all this stuff with ‘just a friend’?”

You can imagine the air quotes as she says that. And you realize she’s right and you’re sort of an idiot. One who didn’t want to believe that something out of a fanfic could happen to her. That didn’t change the soulmate thing though. But did explain why they would share.

“What about them being honest to gods soulmates?”

“What about it?” She responds, and you have no real comeback, “Stop overthinking it and just ask them. But also, you HAVE to apologize for going on a date with that Mark guy. Who, you cannot honestly say, is hotter than them.”

“Of course he’s not, but he’s cut-”

“GIRL! Do you even hear yourself?” She groans, “You’re right, I shouldn’t have left you alone. Making twitter, or X or whatever, then going on a date with some guy who isn’t one of your seven incredibly hot boyfriends… How do you even tie your shoes without me? Honestly.”

You laugh as warmth floods you. She’s right, of course she is. You don’t know why you ignored the signs for so long.

“To be fair, it’s not like they officially asked me to be their girlfriend..” You trail off thinking about the first time you drank with them, “Though there was that time we were drinking. Something about them being mine and me being theirs.”

You wince as she groans, “Bitch, call me earlier next time. So much bullshit could have been avoided if you had just called me.”

“You’re right.” You nod as you start to make your way to where you knew a car would be waiting for you.

“Of course I am. It’s one of my many charms. Now go get your men! And make it up to Yoongi! I want to hear all about your sloppy make up kisses!”

You laugh, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

You hang up as the driver opens the door for you. The SUV feels empty without the guys, but your heart is full as you drive to your apartment. You know what you need to do now, you just hope you have the courage to do it.

-0-0-0-

You stare at your apartment, your aunt's apartment really, and finally notice how empty it feels.

Or maybe that’s just how you feel when you’re not with them.

You move to gather a few clothing items, knowing they won’t want you to leave after you say what you hope you’re brave enough to say.

Saying yes.

Finally.

Yes to them.

Yes to you.

Yes to the possibility of an “us”.

A small part of you knows it might not be forever. That the rules with Soulmates are different than they are for everyone else.

But you know deep in your heart that you are choosing them. No matter what difficulties come with it. And you know there will be a lot. More than you can imagine. But you want to choose them and face all of that.

You will choose them over,

And over,

And over again.

Into this life and the next, if that’s an option.

You just hope they choose you too…

With that thought, you zip up your bag and make your way to the door, ready to face whatever the night brings.

You think.

-0-0-0-

You wave at Hyun and he gives you a familiar smile as you slide out of the SUV. He bows his head just a little and motions for you to go in. You nod back and turn away to look up and up and up at their new place. You twist your hands together as you enter the foyer. They had handed you a key card the other day after the coffee fiasco with Mark, but you had insisted on being dropped off at your aunt’s apartment. Now, you had to make your way to the new dorm, by yourself, all alone, no one else, with all your racing thoughts and new revelations.

Would you be able to date all of them? Probably. You’d figure it out. You hoped. And the soulmate thing? You were sure you could work around that.

The gentleman at the desk nods when you show him your card, and directs you toward the elevator. You’re pretty sure they aren’t the only Idols living here, but you aren’t positive. You slide the key into the slot that replaces buttons in the elevator, and your eyes widen briefly as “penthouse” comes up on the screen.

The ride seems to take forever, but no one else gets on as you make your way up and up all the way to the top. The elevator dings and you stand up straighter. This was it. The moment of truth. They would be standing there and you would tell them you knew and…. You let out the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding as the doors slide open to an empty livingroom.

You slide the key card into your pocket and tilt your head, listening for any indication that they were somewhere else in the dorm, only to be met with silence. They weren’t here. Just then, your phone buzzes, still on vibrate from school:

Joon: Baby, sorry practice is running a bit late
Joon: If you’re home, we will be there soon. If you’re at your aunt’s, let us know so we can swing by and grab you.
You: Your security is shit if they didn’t tell you I was here already.

You stare at the text, giddiness filling your stomach and making its way onto your face, you smile so wide it makes your cheeks hurt. He had called this your home. You giggle and do a weird little skippy dance before stopping mid-step and looking for cameras. You don’t see any, but you still close your eyes and take a few deep breaths.

Of course there aren’t cameras or they would have known you were there. Get a hold of yourself. You can do this. You’re possibly dating the world's seven hottest Idols right now. You got this!

Your self pep talk sorta works. It makes you giggle nervously if nothing else. Because really, you were just a normal girl suddenly in the kpop world… you stop that train of thought and shove it to the back with the other thoughts that are trying to psych you out.

Joon didn’t say when “soon” was, so you make your way further into the living room to wait for their return.

-0-0-0-

“Baby girl.”

You moan a little and shift away from whoever is shaking your arm.

“Baby, do you want dinner or do you want Jungkookie to take you to your room?”

You shift again, this time towards the voice and crack one eye open.

“Yoongi?”

He smiles a little, his fingers gently trail across your forehead, brushing some hair behind your ear and out of your face, “I’m glad you like the couch so much, but you do have a be-”

You cut him off, pressing your mouth to his in a frantic kiss. It’s not gentle or elegant or anything a kiss should be. But it’s real.

Real in the way that you couldn’t wait a moment longer to feel his lips on yours.

Real in the way that you feel like you won’t be able to breathe a moment longer without knowing the feel of him.

Real in the way that you want him more than you’ve wanted anything in this life or the next.

Yoongi stiffens, and you start to pull away, suddenly worried about your breath. Then worried he doesn’t actually want this…

“Yoong-”

This time he cuts you off, his lips soft on yours, but no less urgent than yours had been. His hands are in your hair, pulling your face closer and it’s…

Everything.

Your mouth is still parted around his name and he takes full advantage of that, sliding his tongue against yours like he’s trying to write his name on your tongue.

A cough followed by a soft grunt alerts you to the others in the room. You pull away, but Yoongi follows you, his lips chasing yours, reluctant to stop kissing you. You give in and press one more kiss to his lips before breaking it off. You can feel the heat in your face, but can’t stop the smile that follows.

Yoongi is still looking at you, dazed, and as you break eye contact to look and see who coughed, you realize all the other members are in the livingroom watching you.

“Uh, right, so… how long have you all been there?’

“Long enough to see you attack Yoongi-hyung with your lips.” Jungkook teases with a grin, immediately turning to avoid getting hit by the other members. You look at Yoongi, but he’s still staring at you with a happy grin and a dazed out look in his eyes.

“Right, well… um… welcome home?”

-0-0-0-

Later as you’re sitting around the table, Yoongi’s hand firmly on your thigh and Namjoon’s arm around your waist, you decide to bring up Mark. You almost don’t want to, with everyone chatting and relaxed, but you know if you wait for the right time to say something, you’ll wait forever.

“We should really check out that new place..”

“Speaking of places,” you interrupt Jin, “you remember Mark? The guy from the cafe?”

Everyone stops talking and looks at Hoseok before looking at you. You look at Hoseok too, but his face is carefully neutral.

“Go on…”

“Right yeah. Classmate.” You suddenly feel like saying his name was a bad idea, but you also aren’t sure how else to bring up what you wanted to talk about, “Hesaidthatyousaidthatwearedating”

You blurt it out so fast you aren’t even sure you can understand what you said, but you can feel yourself turn bright red and hot around the ears as Hoseok (who you have decided to stare down like this is a contest), slow blinks trying to process what you said.

“Erm, no offense baby, but I don’t think that was in any language we speak.” Joon says with a crooked grin, showing off one dimple.

You push him, but you might as well be pushing a brick wall, “Wow, rude Joon,” but smile a little so he knows you’re playing along. “I said…” you pause and take a deep breath before closing your eyes, “He said, that you said, that we were dating.”

You hold your breath for a beat, waiting for them to say something, anything. Hopefully not that it was a joke or a lie or something else that would absolutely crush you, but still something. You slowly open one eye to peek, then the other as you realize six men are looking at you confused. Hoseok looks slightly sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand and looking up at you through his bangs.

“Did you tell him that?” You ask, focusing on Hoseok.

“I- I did… but I don’t understand.”

“Don’t understand what?”

“Why you’re upset baby,” Joon interjects when Hoseok sends him a pleading look, “did you want to keep it a secret? I mean…” Joon looks away from you, meeting the others eyes before coming back to look at you, “I suppose we should have asked if you were okay with us telling people. Sorta. It’s not like we did a press release or posted it to weverse…”

“You’re rambling.” Yoongi says, hand squeezing your thigh to make you look at him, “It can be a lot dating seven men, and people judge. We should have checked before saying anything to someone else.”

You choke on your tongue, trying to say everything at once, but not sure what to start with. Yoongi pats your back and hands you a glass of water.

“Mark said he wouldn’t say anything, since there hasn’t been any official press releases or anything,” Hoseok says and grimaces, “If we do any official releases.”

Right, you think to yourself, it’s not like they can just announce that. The chaos would be unimaginable. And it’s not like you didn’t say they couldn’t tell others… you just didn’t know there was anything to tell. Not to mention you had sorta already told your best friend…

“Princess?” Jin is reaching for you across the table and you realize you’ve been lost in thought for too long.

“Right, right, dating. That’s what we are talking about.” You refocus, “So uh….you guys ummm… you didn’t ask?”

“We-”

“Yeah we-”

“What do you-”

They all start talking at once and you raise your hand, stopping them, “I mean, we’ve been together. A Lot. But um, we never really talked about dating?”

They stare at you, stunned, and you suddenly worry you’re going to mess up maybe one of the best things that will ever happen to you by questioning or sounding like you don’t want them.

“Not that I’m upset!” You all but shout, anxiety making your voice too loud, “I just, I didn’t actually know and if I had known I would have told you about asking Mark for a ride and we could have talked more about you leaving when you did because I don’t want to break up. I really, really, really like you guys. Like a LOT. A Lot a lot. and -”

Yoongi puts his hand over your mouth, stopping you mid ramble and you’re not sure if you should be grateful or offended.

“Y/N,” Joon rubs a hand down his face, flashing his dimples, “We should have officially asked. We just assumed you knew. Please, forgive us?”

You nod, fighting the urge to lick the palm of Yoongi’s hand.

“And you’re okay with being with us? All of us?” Jin asks.

You nod again.

“Okay, so it’s settled,” Joon’s goofy smile falls just a little, “But given um, everything, we can’t just announce it. Not without talking to PD Nim more first. You understand, right?”

This time you do lick Yoongi’s hand, and he pulls it away from your mouth looking slightly startled, before looking back at his hand and licking the same spot you licked.

“Gross Yoongi.” You tell him, but with no real heat behind it.

“Baby girl, I had my tongue in your mouth an hour ago.”

“Speaking of tongue-” Jimin starts but is immediately cut off by Namjoon.

“We are getting off topic. Y/N, are we.. are we good?”

You smile softly at all of them, “Yeah, yeah we’re good.”

-0-0-0-

“You know, I did ask.” Jungkook’s breath is warm on your cheek, his lips brushing the shell of your ear as you lay cuddled on his bed.

“Ask what?”

“If we could be yours and you could be ours.” He replies and kisses the shell of your ear.

The room is dark and quieter than you are used to. You have your own room, but now that things are "official" (you still can’t believe it), you don’t want to sleep alone anymore. Not again.

“Wh-what?” You stutter a little as your heart skips. His lips are soft and trailing little kisses down your neck as his fingers spread out on your stomach, just brushing the underside of your breasts.

“The first night you had dinner with us at the dorm. Remember?”

His tongue is wet and warm as he uses it to follow the trail his lips took back up your neck and lightly sucks the spot right behind your ear.

“I-may-maybe?”

“Maybe?” He blows on the wet trail and you shiver, pushing yourself tighter against his chest.

“You are being very distracting right now.” You confess in a whisper, threading your hand through one of his, “It’s hard to think straight.”

He pauses, “Is it too much?”

“No, no.” You push back against him a little more and turn your face to catch the corner of his mouth with your own, “Please, don’t stop. Unless you want to?”

You can feel his grin and his hands tighten around your waist. Soon you won’t be able to breathe without feeling his hot hands gripping you.

“Never,” he presses a soft kiss to your lips, “I never want to stop.”

You smile, and roll over so you are facing him, then press as close as you can. You press another kiss to his soft, soft, soft lips, before parting your lips to tentatively lick his bottom lip.

He groans, low and deep in his throat and wraps his arms around you, flipping until you’re laying on top of him, legs on either side of his thighs.

“Just think, we could have been doing this the whole time,” he teases, kissing his way down your neck as his hands move to your ass, pressing you firmly against him. You can feel him getting harder and moan, “if you had just listened to me that first night.”

His hands move down to your thighs, then slowly back up, pushing the shirt you borrowed from him up to your waist.

You bury your face in his neck, nipping at the soft skin under his chin, followed quickly by a swipe of your tongue.

“Is this too much, jagi?”

“N-no.” You pant softly against him, pressing your core into him, wishing there was nothing between you, “Is it too much for you?”

“Never.” He slides his big, hot, hot, hot, hands under your panties and holds you in place as he grinds up, making you gasp his name.

“Say it again. ” He demands, still holding you in place as he moves beneath you.

You leave wet, open mouthed kisses down his chest as you move your hips against him. You didn’t think he could get any harder, but you swear he is as the head of his cock bumps your clit though your soaked panties and his damp boxers.

“Jungkook,” you whisper his name like a prayer, “Jungkook!” You say louder as he rocks against you again, biting your shoulder through your shirt.

“You’re so hot against me, Jagi. I- I can’t hold on m-much longer.”

“I- fuck,” You say, wanting to get him off, but still chasing your release, “I need more, Kookie, please!”

He finds a rhythm, his hands gripping you so tightly, you’re sure you’ll have marks, and you can’t find it in you to care. You’re so wet and so hot, you don’t know how you still have your panties on. But you’re not about to stop now. Not when you’re so close.

“R-right there. Ah! Jungkook-ah!”

You feel your orgasm roll through you, and you shudder above him, legs feeling like jelly as you fall against his chest panting.

“You’re so good, coming for me Jagi.” He grits out, still rolling his hips against you, “You’re so wet I can feel you through your panties…” He cuts off with a groan and you feel him buck under you as you lick and suck his neck, not caring if you leave marks.

He presses against you once more, pressing so deeply into you, you can feel his hot come soaking through his boxers and your panties.

“Fuck,” he’s panting now.

“Y-You cussed.” You accuse him, feeling his chest rise and fall under your own.

“You’re just that good.” He mumbles against your hair, pressing soft kisses to the top of your head as he rubs your back under his shirt.

“You didn’t do too bad yourself.” You tease, and try to push off him.

“Don’t. Not yet.” He holds you tighter against him.

You grimace as you move and your combined release makes your panties stick. “Jungkook, we’re a mess.”

“Yeah,” You can hear the pride in his voice as he says it.

“Let’s clean up a little at least.” You roll your eyes and push off of him, rolling off the bed and on to your feet, more glad than ever each guy has an ensuite bathroom, “and I need to find my bag. I hope I packed enough underwear.”

Jungkook wraps his arms around you from behind, walking you towards the bathroom.

“What are you doing Kookie?”

“Helping you clean up,” You can feel his grin against your neck as he kisses you, “and don’t worry about finding more underwear.”