The Eight | A BTS Soulmate Fic |

Chapter 103

After a slightly annoying trip down the hill with all three of her warriors constantly trying to help her, it was snack time again. The Muse was living for all this food! This was going to be her third breakfast, she giggled to herself.

"Are you actually hungry again, Yeppeun?" Jinnie asked as he made himself yet another bowl of cereal. She just glared at him until he laughed and got her some cereal with fresh fruit in it and a side of buttered toast.

Hobi was showing off his awesome breakfast abilities, and Tae was playing along for the cameras when Jungkook made his appearance. He had his hair in the cutest pony tails. It took everything she had in her not to gush over how adorable it was. She had visions of her daughter bouncing around in the same hairstyle and smiled to herself as she finished off her toast.

"What are you thinking of, Yeppeun?" Tae's voice popped into her head, "I didn't think it was possible, but that smile somehow makes you even more beautiful."

     The Muse blushed at the sweet words and the feeling he put behind them, but refused to look at him or acknowledge the compliment. In fact, she was sort of annoyed he would use their connection like that now, after two whole months of no contact. It almost felt like a violation. As her soulmate, husband and warrior, there was no part of her that was supposed to be off limits to him. But, as a pregnant scorned wife, she felt like she could do whatever she damn well felt was right.

    Luckily with packing and the rest of the chaos happening around them, there wasn't much down time before they were on the road again. The Muse ended up having to take the RV, sitting next to Hobi and across from Jimin in the back seating area. It was not the easiest to ride back there, and car sickness was a common occurrence. Jimin laid his head down to try and sleep it off, and The Muse had to get up and walk around a couple of times. Even though the vehicle was still moving, it seemed to calm her stomach down a bit. 

    They stopped for gas and found a little store off to the side. If there was one thing these guys could not pass up, it was the opportunity to shop. She had to smile when Joonie grabbed her hand and pulled her in to look at all of the locally made goods. He got slippers for himself and for The Muse, then stopped dead. Eyes lighting up in excitement when he found the tiniest pair of sheepskin slippers he'd ever seen. With a little giggle Joon added them to his stack of goods.

    Jinnie grabbed slippers, too, and then found a cute little alpaca made of local wool that he just had to get for Petal. She already had her own RJ, of course, but she was going to need this to know that they had taken her to New Zealand before she was born.

    Hobi didn't have a chance to shop for Petal. Tae and Jimin were next to him most of his time in the shop, and he didn't know how to explain why he would want the cute baby things he had seen.

     Once they were back in the RV packing away their buys, Joon found they they'd bought two hats with scarves on them when they only needed one. Hobi went back in the store to return the item and Jinnie, never one to let an opportunity like this pass him by, talked the others into making it look like they left the man behind.

    Jimin sat across from The Muse while they waited for the scene to play out. He stared at her, hardley blinking and never looking away. She gave him an uncomfortable smile and looked out the window, not seeing anything in particular as she felt the emotions coming off of him. Jimin was always intense with his emotions, and it was hard to ignore when he focused them all on her. At that moment she felt his regret and his determination.

"We will make it right, Yeppeun." he said quietly before getting back into character and answering his phone, playing dumb for Hobi.

    The moment passed, and they were back on the road across New Zealand. She couldn't get over just how beautiful everything was. They stopped at a cafe for lunch that had many different animals they could visit with. She wanted to go see them when they arrived, but was unsure about being alone with Jimin. Well. Alone with camera men.

   The Muse was squeezed in between Namjoon and Hoseok at the picnic table for lunch, and talked Jinnie into taking her down to see them quickly before they left for the grocery store. She decided to go along to shop because her snack reserves seemed terribly low, and she knew she could get Jinnie to get her something to munch on. Joonie gave her a quick hug before they left and whispered,

"Make sure you buy fresh veggie snacks, Yeppeun." in her ear before letting her go.

With a giggle she pulled away from him and gave him a wink before climbing into the SUV.

She ended up sitting next to Yoongi in the back seat for the trip to the store. He had a pensive look on his face as he stared out his window, and the emotions coming from him seemed mixed. Like he kept changing his mind about something. With a deep, fortifying breath he slowly reached his hand over and took hers. His intention was nothing more than to hold her hand, she had to allow it.

    Staring down at his hand, she looked at his fingers. She studied them. The shape, the size, the dexterity.

"Is this ok, Yeppeun?" Yoongi asked her, his voice sounding unsure and vulnerable.

The Muse looked up into his eyes. She had no words to say. No response for him. But, she also hadn't pulled her hand away. He took that as a positive and threaded their fingers together. His relief was tangible when she stayed still. He wanted to work on their relationship, and that was hard to do when she was continually avoiding him.

   The moment the car parked in the lot of the grocery store and Yoongi let go of her hand, The Muse almost jumped out of the car and crossed her arms as she waited for Jinnie to get out and join her. Her brows were drawn together and she was staring at the ground as she waited to go in the store. Yoongi approached her to place his hand on her back, and she quickly moved away, leaving him standing alone and confused.

    Taehyung was watching her closely. He cocked his head to the side and said,

"I see what Jimin means. You have gained some weight, Yeppeun." he pointed at her belly that she had inadvertently brought attention to by crossing her arms under her breasts.

Completely outraged, and needing to change the subject, The Muse punched Tae in the shoulder and turned to stomp into the store with Jinnie on her heels.