Through Her Eyes ✔

58. MEMORIES

"But?" Namjoon asks as the silence seems to prolong.

**********

The hinges of the door rattled as someone harshly opened it wide. Her papa was there, drank and furious. Guilt stricken, knowing how their master didn't want any celebration for her birthday, the maids excused and guided the frightened children away.

Daun, was left alone.

He was yelling profanities. He was cursing her, then dragging her towards the pantry. A place where the older maids had said that a former miss was seen hanging on her death. The place was so scary.

"Papa! Let me out! Please let me out!" She was crying so hard. Her entire body shivers with great fright. She didn't want to be in the place.

**********

"I never knew it happened." She softly says.

"Love." Namjoon wipes away the tears running down her cheeks.

He doesn't know what to feel. He feels like the magma inside him is boiling and threatening to burst out. He is angry. He is angry for all the hurt that she had been through. He is furious for the man that had cause her so much trauma. He doesn't care how important that man is in her life. However, this moment is not about what he feels. This is all about their Daun. He can only suppress the ugly feeling inside him.

"That time I woke up with bandages on my hands. I forgot what really happened. Now... I can recall it all."

Namjoon can practically hear his heart shatters with the hurt in her eyes. He knows that what happened was only a few of the many things that she bottles inside.

What should he say about it? He had been privileged growing up with his supportive parents. Though there was a time that they had disagreed on his chosen path, but there was never an abuse. His parents were just worried with the future that he decided on his own. The same with the six of his members who are his sworn brothers.

He can only say, "Baby." as he pulls her into a tight embrace. He feels her body quakes as she sadly sobs. Like a child, he swivels the chair, as if mimicking a swing, to make her calm.

Namjoon looks ahead and sees Yoongi moves to sit on the couch. He looks somber and contemplative. Namjoon can tell that he has been listening with everything.

Their eyes meet and Namjoon can only nod as if telling his hyung that he got her... that everything would be okay.

"Thank you." He hears her mumbles a while later. "Thank you for listening." She repeats as she wipes her tears with her hands.

"You can always talk to me." He sincerely says. "Are you okay now?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think I'll ever be." She admits.

"What are you going to do now?" He wants to know. He wants her to unshackle and unbind herself from the ugly weights that's dragging her inside. He wants her to find the solution on her own or perhaps ask them to help her find the key of letting go.

"I... I don't know."

"You can always tell us anything." He soothes.

"Aren't you ashamed of me?" She curiously asks. He can see the fear on her eyes. Though it's painful for him, but he admits that she has every right to be cautious for her own sake. She had been hurt all through her life. They are soulmates but still, they are only humans and has the potential to hurt her. Soulmates are in fact more lethal. Once soulmates' trust is breached and torn, it can cause soul tear and death. He could only give is an assurance that the seven of them, especially him, would never cause her any pain. They had sworn on it even before knowing her identity.

"We are never ashamed of you." He answers truthfully. They are rather proud of her. "What you have experienced is a part of you. It has shaped you of what you are."

"Yeah... an embarrassing me who doesn't know how to keep a promise... even a word." She frustratingly says.

"No. You are strong. You are brave. You are sensible. You are generous. You are true to yourself..."

"But I am never brave nor strong. I am weak." She whines as she interrupts Namjoon's praises.

"I don't think so. Brave and strong people know how to stand on their principles. You were able to live alone even when you were seventeen. You were brave to enter the world of artists and made a name of your own. You are able to manage all these times."

"H-how?" Her brows furrow.

"Love, Daun, I did my research on you." He softly says, hoping it doesn't come out as stalking. The seven of them are just curious of her. "I know some things about you. However, there are still things that I am yet to learn. I hope you'll gonna tell us all someday... especially what's in your heart. What bothers you? What makes you cry? Please... if you think you are weak. Then use us as your strength." He kindly says.

Silence.

He observes how her eyes widen in surprise and realization, then how she blinks with how he says the words to her. He watches how she bits her lips as she tries hard not to shed more tears.

The silence of the room as she somehow internalizes what he had said shutters with her sigh of relief.

"Ohhh... Namjoonie... I don't know what to say." She melts into his chest, hugging him so tightly, afraid to let go.

"Namjoonie is right Daun-ah." Yoongi's voice is gentle and sure.

Daun's head snaps towards his hyung on the couch. "You are awake. You were listening?"

"I can't help it." Yoongi is never letting go of his gaze to her eyes as he stands and strides towards her. "If it's you... I am always all ears." His solemnly smiles towards her, making sure to show how serious he is. It's as if reminding her of something that she already knows.

'Soul hear. She knows it already.' Namjoon deduces. He hopes that their Yoongi hyung had already told her how precious she is for them.

"You are all generous and gentle." She says. "How fortunate I am to have you." She whispers, as if the statement is only meant to herself. Nonetheless, the two of them hear it clearly.

"We are more fortunate." Namjoon says as he hugs her more to himself.

She blushes and hides again to his chest.

Yoongi grins.

"We are more fortunate." He murmurs on her ears.