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

Chapter 99: Of Roots and Rooms 🔥

Hoseok's POV

It had been hours since we first stepped foot into this place-this home, if I dare call it that just yet.

But the echo of my heartbeat against the polished floors still hadn't slowed. Everything was so much.

The kind of 'much' that doesn't overwhelm you... but wraps you in the warmest kind of awe, like a sunset that hits just right and makes you want to hold your breath so you don't break the moment.

We had come back down to the first floor, and I kept touching my chest, grounding myself, trying to push back the tears that kept burning my eyes every few minutes.

Kookie and I had exchanged a look-one of those looks where neither of us had to say a word because we were both completely, shamelessly wrecked in the best way possible.

They had built this with us in mind.
Not just included us-built it.

Left room for us to grow roots here, to decorate the corners with our dreams, to imagine a future with creaky floorboards from laughter and light that shifted through every glass panel like it was dancing just for us.

And even though I wasn't moving in yet, I felt like a part of me already had.

Jin hyung and Yoongi hyung were already in the kitchen when we came down, music playing softly in the background, something jazzy and rich.

The scent of garlic and butter hit me like a hug. Jin hyung was humming as he chopped herbs with the kind of precision that could only come from decades of knowing his way around a kitchen.

Yoongi hyung was manning the stovetop, flipping something golden in a pan, sleeves rolled up, forearms flexed, eyes narrowed in his usual cooking trance.

It was domestic. Cozy. Intimate.
It was all the things I secretly craved.

Tae was bouncing around the space like a happy kid in a candy store, his energy buzzing off the walls.

He dragged Kook and me around again, pulling us to different corners we had just seen but now looked completely new because Tae's joy was contagious like that.

Wacha had found a new perch by one of the sunny windows and was grooming herself like she'd always lived here.

Yeontan trotted behind Tae loyally, tail wagging like he knew he had his own corner of the house waiting for him.

Everything just fit.

"You should've seen Jin-hyung fight the interior designer about the stove,"

Joonie laughed, falling onto one of the deep cream couches, his long limbs sprawling as he watched Jin hyung and Yoongi hyung dance their domestic duet in the kitchen.

"I didn't fight. I insisted," Jin hyung called back with a grin, knife still in motion.

"Insisted with your elbows," Yoongi hyung muttered, smirking.