Stigma Love's Algorithm [ A BTS x Reader Poly ]

Chapter 12: The Best Gift

My heart swelled with happiness. "I'm glad you like it."

"I love it." His gaze softened, and I could feel my heart racing again.

"Okay, okay, enough with the sappy stuff," Nari teased, making an exaggerated gagging sound, but her smile was full of warmth. "I think we've all had enough of that."

Yoongi chuckled and reached over to grab the birthday hat from his head, then playfully flicked it onto mine. "There, now we're both ridiculous."

I laughed, adjusting the silly hat, and Yoongi looked at me with a fondness I hadn't seen before.

Everything felt so right, so easy, and as the evening continued with laughter and playful banter, I couldn't help but think that this birthday, even with all the confusion, was turning out to be one of the best days I'd ever had.

__________

The laughter and conversation around Yoongi's kitchen table continued to flow, the comfortable atmosphere growing with each passing moment.

I sat between Yoongi, his mom, and his sister Nari, feeling the last remnants of my earlier embarrassment fading into the warmth of the room.

"So, Y/N," Nari began, her eyes lighting up like she'd just discovered Yoongi's deepest, darkest secrets. "You've heard the tales about Yoongi by now, right?"

Yoongi groaned dramatically, as if he'd already had this conversation a thousand times. "Here we go..."

Nari smirked. "I mean, the guy's always been a bit of a mystery."

I couldn't hold back a grin. "I've heard a few," I said, eyeing Yoongi like a curious cat stalking a laser pointer. "But I'm sure there are some stories that would leave me in stitches."

Yoongi winced, his face turning the color of someone who'd just realized they'd left their phone at home-with the password unlocked. "No, no, don't listen to her. I was a totally normal kid, alright? No drama, no shenanigans."

Nari raised an eyebrow and leaned forward like she was about to reveal a plot twist no one saw coming. "Totally normal? Is that what you call the time you-"

"Nope," Yoongi cut in with the urgency of a man about to lose his Netflix subscription. "I was a model child. Perfect. You can't prove anything."

Nari gave a dramatic sigh, clearly savoring the moment. "Well, I distinctly remember you sneaking out at night, going to questionable jam sessions in places I'm pretty sure were just abandoned warehouses with questionable smells. And then you'd come back looking like you'd fought a mud monster."

I exploded into laughter, picturing Yoongi, his face covered in mud like a wet dog who had lost a battle with the neighborhood sprinkler.

Yoongi immediately face-palmed like this was his plan all along. "That was... avant-garde performance art," he said with the kind of confidence only someone who's deeply deluded could muster. "I was experimenting with... textures."

"Textures?" Nari shot back with a wicked grin. "Sure, and I was experimenting with whether you could get grounded for life."

"I was a visionary," Yoongi replied quickly, like he was reciting a line from a really bad self-help book. "You wouldn't understand, okay?"

Nari leaned in, almost vibrating with joy. "And let's not forget the time you tried to sneak back in at 4 a.m. and got stuck in the window like a cat who forgot how to cat. We literally thought you were going to have to live outside for the rest of your life."

I nearly choked from laughing. Yoongi, the mystery man, had been a half-drowned, window-climbing mess of a kid.

Yoongi buried his face in his hands, but not before adding, "It was... performance art. Very avant-garde, okay?"