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

Chapter 96: Where We Are Meant to Be

Not in pieces.
Not alone.
But whole.
Together.

As the plates emptied and the conversation melted into something softer, the room seemed to exhale with us.

Like even the lanterns above knew-this was no ordinary night.

This was a night that stitched people together.

Tae, still nestled between Kookie and Yoongi hyung, was now attempting a very serious scientific experiment-balancing a spoon on his nose.

His eyes were crossed in concentration as Kookie, despite his best efforts, snorted into his drink.

"You look like a very handsome walrus," Kook whispered, poking Tae's cheek.

Tae beamed. "You think I'm handsome?"

"Dangerously so," Kook said with a dramatic nod, all mock-seriousness.

Yoongi hyung, unimpressed, reached out and plucked the spoon off Tae's nose like a long-suffering parent.

"Enough chaos, cub. You'll break the spoon, then the plate, and then your pride."

Tae pouted. "Noona would fix it."

"She always does," Yoongi hyung murmured, his gaze flicking toward Y/N noona with something so quiet, so unmistakably fond, that it tugged at something deep inside me.

Y/N noona was beside Joonie now, laughing softly as he animatedly explained some kind of sustainability model on a napkin.

She was only half-listening, the other half of her mind occupied with tracing tiny stars in the corner of the page.

I passed behind them on my way to refill my tea when she leaned in, voice light but full of something warm.

"I love when he gets like this," she whispered to me.

"All intense and thoughtful?" I grinned.

She nodded. "His brain never slows down, but it never forgets you either."

Joonie looked up then, glasses slightly askew. "I heard that."

"You were meant to."

He smirked. "Should I be blushing?"

"I think you already are," she teased.

Jin hyung sat across the room now, sprawled sideways in his seat, legs stretched out, eyes full of something rare.

Not the sharp wit of 'Jin the lawyer.'
Not the effortless charm of 'Jin the heir.'

This was just Seokjin-hyung.
And his love was written all over his face.

"Hyung?" I murmured, sliding down beside him.

"Hmm?"

"Are you okay?"

He didn't answer right away.
He just looked.

At Joonie and Y/N noona, still huddled over their napkin masterpiece.

At Tae, curled into Yoongi hyung's side while Kookie traced absent-minded patterns on his palm.

At me-his newest addition-taking up space in his world like a paint-splattered masterpiece that matched the rest of the gallery.

And then he exhaled, a slow, measured thing.

"I'm more than okay," he finally said.
"I think I'm... full. And not just from food."

"Full of what?"

He turned to me, smile tugging at his lips.

"Of you."