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

Chapter 97: Of Blankets, Boxes, and Belonging

And already I felt the buzz of something special thick in the air-like laughter woven into the walls, like the scent of old wine and something permanent

Noona, Jin hyung, Joonie, Yoongi hyung, and Tae had found it long before Kook and I entered the picture.

Tonight we're packing up Jin hyung's two-story penthouse suite, which was so luxurious Kook and I hadn't stopped whispering "what the actual hell" since we walked in.

"I feel like we just entered an art exhibit called 'Excess, but Make It Sexy,'"

Kookie whispered next to me, his wide eyes scanning the rooftop balcony, where a fire pit flickered against the twilight.

"Seriously," I muttered back.

"That pool? That view? I think this place has its own gravitational pull."

"I swear, hyung's a millionaire villain in a romcom," Kookie whispered to me, eyes wide as we stared at the skyline.

"All that's missing is the evil laugh."

"I'm pretty sure that's coming when he finds out Tae has put his colognes in a box marked 'Maybe Donate'" I whispered back.

Back inside, it was warm with light and chaos. Laughter bounced off high ceilings, and the smell of takeout mixed with packing tape and a thousand memories.

There was music playing softly from a Bluetooth speaker, something jazzy that felt like the soundtrack to a really good night.

Jin hyung had turned into a full-on commander, issuing orders while also somehow looking like a prince.

"Aein, would you mind packing the crystal? Only someone with a gentle, capable soul should touch it," he declared, hands clasped dramatically.

Then to Joon, "Please, for the love of everything holy, step away from the porcelain."

Namjoon raised his hands in surrender, then turned to help Tae wrap artwork instead.

Tae was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room, swaddled in bubble wrap like a fashion statement, popping pieces absentmindedly as he flirted with Joonie between rolls.

Yoongi hyung and Y/N noona were sharing a box, quietly working side by side with the kind of intimacy that didn't need to be spoken aloud.

I watched Yoongi hyung lean into her every now and then, forehead brushing her shoulder or whispering something just for her ears.

She'd giggle, then nudge him gently, like they were passing secrets back and forth through skin.

It made my chest ache in the sweetest way.

"Do you ever think about it?" Kookie asked beside me, as he carefully packed an absurd number of gold cutlery sets.

"Living with them. All of us. In that house."

"Yeah," I admitted, watching as Jin hyung burst into a slow dramatic twirl because someone found his vintage wine opener.

"I think about it more than I probably should."

"We don't have to rush," he said, quietly. "They told us that. But I feel like..."

"Like it's already ours?" I finished for him.

He looked at me, and his smile was soft and crooked. "Yeah."

There's this unspoken warmth that's grown between us and them.

A bond that doesn't need a name yet, but it's there in the way noona always saves the last dumpling for me, the way Yoongi hyunh taps my hand twice when he passes me scissors, the way Tae grabs my face like I'm his favorite thing to squish.