The Wrong Soulmate (BTS OT7)

Chapter 3.5-Jimin

In so many ways it felt like Yoona had become a small child, totally dependent on us to care for her. She wasn't strong enough to move or feed herself. She couldn't understand us when we spoke and she didn't speak to us in return. We had tried a few times to get her to read notes we wrote for her but she flat out refused to even look at them. She required constant care and attention and there was absolute nothing we wanted more than to give it to her.

She was never alone, even for a minute. And besides the times when Jin was caring for her personal needs, at least two of us were always with her. We carried her everywhere, helped guide her on when and how much to eat and drink, and fed her each bite by hand. She slept in the arms of one or more soulmates and was smothered with love and gentle physical affection at all times.

For her part Yoona seemed much less resistant than she was when she left. She relaxed in the warmth and the safety of our arms. And the very few times she was not being gently touched by one of us, even for a moment, she immediately began to tear up, drawing us to her side to reassure her and gently stroke her back or hair until she calmed down again.

While Yoona's situation was difficult, each of us loved the unexpected opportunity to draw close. This was particularly true for Namjoon and I who had largely been rejected the last time she was with us, and especially for Kookie who always wanted her safe in his arms. She never went so far as to smile, but we did enjoy feeling her relax in our arms, nestled into our neck, or with her cheek on our heart which was always beating firm and strong.

For all of us it was hard to accept and adapt to Yoona being deaf, although as time wore on we were all increasingly convinced it must be true. I still saw soulmates whispering words of affection to her as they gently rocked her from side to side. It was instinctual, particularly considering we all worked in the music industry and our voices were our careers. But it was Hobi who first noticed that she seemed to relax more if he hummed to her. We could only guess it was related to the gentle vibration of his chest, further lulling her as she settled into a new life.

Similar to Yoongi, I had at least temporarily decided to return to the apartment. Now as I began to spend more time with my soulmates I found it increasingly difficult to remember why we had fought so bitterly in the past. One day I even tried opening my bond a bit, something I had locked tight for at least the last two years. I expected to encounter seven brick walls of opposition in return but was surprised to discover several of my soulmates were also tentatively exploring being open to our bond. While we never talked about it, I could always find Taehyung and a somewhat more reluctant Yoongi with their walls at least partially cracked open.

We were settling into somewhat more comfortable patterns with Yoona, and she was very slowly beginning to gain just a bit of weight and strength. But there remained a low level current of lingering anxiety as our soulmates desperately wanted to know what had happened in the intervening years. Of particular interest was of course Yoona's child that we had no additional information about. Did the child pass away or was he or she missing somewhere? Without Yoona communicating we had no way to even begin to know.

Which brought up one other area of endless speculation, we hadn't heard a single sound from Yoona since she'd been home. Not a word, not a shout, not even a whimper. In addition to somehow becoming deaf had she also lost the ability to speak?

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It was about the fifth day after Yoona had returned home and she was curled up on my lap in the living room. Yoona tended to sleep a lot which the doctor assured us was normal as she regained her strength. I had snuggled her under a warm blanket and planned to spend the next few hours allowing her to lean her weight against me and doze off while I watched some tv.

About five minutes into the show I could feel Yoona lightly rubbing one of my fingers. With a kiss to her hair I squeezed her closer, assuring her that I welcomed her engagement with me no matter how small. It started with her rubbing her pointer finger over my finger. She then proceeded to gently run her fingers over the rest of my fingers, gently pausing at the ends to let our extra sensitive fingertips rest against each other. While her face wasn't visible to me, I could see she was watching her own movement on our hands, concentrating on it quite intently.

To match her exploration I gave her a kiss to the forehead every time our fingertips briefly flirted with each other. This small comfort and affection seemed to only relax her further, and after several minutes I felt her motions slow and then stop altogether as I felt her drift off to sleep.

It was such a small thing, but it was the first time Yoona had really willingly engaged with me, not just allowed me to engage with her. Even though my heart ached for our poor battered soulmate, it also leapt with the thought that we might eventually draw closer and there might be hope that she would emerge from her deep protective shell.

I felt her begin to shuffle a bit a few hours later as she woke back from her nap. I gently nuzzled into her hair to let her know I sensed she was waking and after a few minutes she resettled. What happened next was a surprise. I could see Yoona had shifted to watch the television with me. I knew from several years back she hadn't seen much, if any, television while she grew up, and I assumed that hadn't changed while she was back with Hyunjin. Grabbing the remote, I filtered through the menu to turn on the closed caption so she could follow along more easily.

Yoona stiffened in my arm, eyes wide in surprise as she saw the words pop up. Eventually she settled down again but had shifted so she could watch the screen along with me. I could tell Yoona was loving it. She would grab my arm tight or hide her face in my chest when there was even the smallest of anxiety. And in sweet and beautiful moments she'd turn to me and make eye contact to show her interest in what was happening on the screen.

Even though our interaction was small, it felt like the first opportunity to really be together. Not just next to each other but together. And while we weren't using words we were beginning to find ways to communicate. I couldn't wait to tell the rest of the guys.