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

Chapter 26: Handshakes and Hopes

Namjoon's POV

My mind is a storm as the meeting drags on, the voices around me muffled by the constant pull I feel toward Y/N and Suga. It's impossible to ignore, no matter how hard I try.

The way their presence fills the room, the subtle but undeniable connection between us-it's there, and it's pulling me in all the wrong ways.

I'm doing my best to stay focused, to listen to their points about the project, the compromises, and the strategies for the upcoming launch.

But every time I glance at Y/N or Suga, something shifts inside me. A feeling that's all too familiar, and deeply unsettling.

We've found common ground. For now, anyway.

Both teams have spoken their minds, laid their concerns on the table.

Y/N argued fiercely for the user-first approach, while Suga, as expected, was cautious about the security implications.

I've been patient, even when their views clashed with mine. But deep down, I know we all want the same thing.

A way to make this project work. A way to contribute to something that matters.

The problem, though, is that the connection I feel with them threatens to overshadow everything else.

I've felt this before.

It happened years ago, with someone else.

Another connection, another pull I tried to bury deep inside me.

I ignored it then, just like I'm trying to ignore it now.

Back then, I convinced myself that the mission-the cause I was fighting for-was far more important than any potential soulmate bond, hence not activating the very app we are working with now, up to this day.

I pushed it aside, focused on the work that would change the world.

I convinced myself it was the right thing to do. The only thing to do.

But now, sitting here with Y/N and Suga, I'm starting to doubt that conviction.

I glance at Y/N. She's speaking now, her voice calm but firm, explaining the rationale behind her suggestions for the next phase of the project.

Her eyes are focused, intent on the task at hand, but there's something about her.

A vulnerability in the way she carries herself.

It reminds me of that person from my past, the one I lost because I was not ready to embrace what I felt.

I wonder if Y/N or Suga had met him.

I wonder if the both of them had talked to him, had gotten to know him.

He had told me just before we parted ways that he was going to activate his profile.

From what I'm feeling-I'm pretty sure they're his soulmate too. That we have the same soul connection.

I might not have yet activated the app but I know what I feel.

I'm not in denial. I'm just not ready.

My world is just not ready.

I didn't need an app to tell me who they are.

My chest tightens. I can't ignore it.

There it is again-that pull-a reminder of what I once felt and rejected.

But now, as much as I try to push it away, it feels stronger than before.

And then there's Suga.

The way he looks at me, quiet but perceptive. I've since admired his quiet intensity when I first met him at the foundation event, but today, it's different.