"Okay so, soulmates are basically generated by dreams, right?" Madeline said theatrically, "And by the way, so unfair— I'm literally the most enthusiastic about this yet I don't have a soulmate? Why, universe, why?"
"This is my first time hearing about any of this," Jimin cut in, taking another sip of his smoothie now that his ice cream was devoured.
"Tae and I are soulmates," Jeongguk announced proudly.
"We've been known, Jeongguk," Madeline groaned, causing the ravenette to chuckle, "Anyway, Hobi said that interference with sleep actually affects the bond."
"I mean, that makes sense." The ravenette shrugged. "No sleep, no dreams."
Madeline nodded in agreement. "So what happens when one person is woken up before the other?" She tapped her finger against the table. "Hobi said he's not sure cause him and his ex-soulmate were pretty consistent with waking up at the same time."
"Are you saying that you can break a bond by waking one soulmate up?" Jimin leaned back in his chair and waved hi to one of his casual friends across the dining hall.
Then his eyes caught Carter's, who was staring at the group quite intimidatingly. The blonde raised an eyebrow at him and Jimin just dismissed Carter with a flick of a hand.
"That's not true," Jeongguk was saying, munching on a barbecue chip, "I mean... soulmate bonds can't be that brittle. I feel like it's more of an internal thing. The bond breaks when you're not... emotionally attached the same way? I mean, Hobi did say that he and his ex-soulmate fought."
Madeline hummed, dissecting the ravenette's viewpoint in her mind. "Yeah I see what you mean."
"Maybe my brain size is just equivalent to a pea, but I feel like there's more to this soulmate thing than we'll ever know," Jimin concluded.
"I want a soulmate," Madeline whined.
Jeongguk laughed, sitting up straight to brag about his soulmate until two fingers dipped under his chin and tilted his head upwards, forcing him to face—
"Are you sick?" Taehyung inquired, concern painting his entire complexion.
Caught off guard, Jeongguk let the brunette caress his cheeks and press the back of his hand on his forehead as if checking his temperature. "What?"
"Jimin texted and said you were sick."
"Jimin!" The ravenette exclaimed.
"You are sick for having wasabi vanilla ice cream," Jimin pointed out, earning a kick to the leg under the table, "Ow."
Taehyung frowned, confused. "So are you feeling okay?"
"Yes, Tae. I'm fine," Jeongguk laughed.
"Ah okay good. I was worried."
The ravenette erupted into a fit of giggles when Taehyung leaned down and smothered him with kisses.
"So this is what I'm gonna be dealing with on a daily basis," Madeline informed Jimin with a deep sigh, jabbing a thumb at the couple, "This, along with Yoongi and Hobi— the platonic boyfriend duo."
"Fun." Jimin grinned, shaking his head.
"How was the talk with Jin?" Jeongguk whispered near the brunette's ear.
"Good." Taehyung nuzzled below his boyfriend's jaw. "I'm so relieved that he's okay now."
"Jimin and I talked too," The ravenette revealed, "No grudges. He's cool."
Jimin must've overheard, because when the brunette looked over at him, he gave him a friendly thumbs up. And Taehyung figured it was only fitting to get up and give the pink-haired boy a hug.
Jimin returned it, beaming softly.
"Let's have another sleepover," Taehyung suggested brightly, hand settling on Jimin's shoulder, "You come too."
Madeline raised a hand over to Jimin for a high five which he accepted. "Welcome to the single gays club. You and me."
"I appreciate that," Jimin said sheepishly, very aware of the nearby boy was listening in, "But... ah, I don't know. I don't want to just leave my roommate like that without telling him."
Jeongguk tensed, suddenly remembering who Jimin's roommate was.
"I just tell my roommate I'll be sleeping over at someone else's." Madeline shrugged. "She's cool with it."
"We can do tomorrow, if you need time to talk to him," Taehyung assured. He snaked an arm around the ravenette's lower back and pushed his hand up his hoodie, causing Jeongguk to squeak. "But I bet you're gonna be sleeping in my bed for the rest of the summer, hm?" He said under his breath.
Jeongguk would rather die than admit the goosebumps that rose on his arms just from the way the brunette's hand rested on his tummy. "Yeah uh, that's— that's the plan," He stammered pathetically, "I like our nightly cuddles, you know."
Taehyung removed his hand and laughed, pinching the ravenette's ear. "You're too cute, Bambi."
"So, sleepover tomorrow?"
"Sounds good to me."
When Jimin excused himself to go use the bathroom, he wasn't surprised when Carter also emerged through the door.
"Well that didn't work out, huh?" The blonde said.
"What didn't?"
"You and Jeongguk."
Jimin tilted his head to the side and gave a little shrug. "It's okay... I'll get over it. I'm just happy we talked it out and remained friends."
"Right... So, you're going to a sleepover?" The blonde cocked his head to the side.
"Tomorrow night, yeah," Jimin answered as he dried off his hands, "As long as you're okay with it."
"Can I come?"
"Ah, I'm in no position to invite you, Carter. That's my friend's cabin."
"Right, okay. That's fine." Carter licked his lips. "Hm, so what's your friend's name anyway? The one dating Jeongguk."
"That's Tae."
Tae.
Carter nodded slowly, imprinting the name into his brain for... completely harmless purposes.
"His family comes here practically every summer. I'm surprised you don't know him."
"I mean, this is just my second year here. I don't remember everyone," Carter replied, beginning to back out of the bathroom now that he gathered decent information.
"Are you heading back to our room?" Jimin asked, following him out, "Wait for me."
Now that they were stuffed with dessert, Madeline suggested watching a movie in the common room and the two boys agreed to it.
"What do you want to watch?" Madeline asked as they strolled down the path.
Jeongguk hummed. "Your Name Engraved Herein."
"That's a pretty movie title," Taehyung commented.
"It's a good movie. Very bittersweet."
"Is it on Netflix?" Madeline asked.
"Yup."
"I'll see if I can pull it up."
When they arrived to the common room, every jaw dropped to see Yoongi sitting in front of the piano with Hoseok next to him, leaving gentle kisses on his neck. Yoongi laughed and elbowed him away, claiming that he couldn't concentrate on playing. Both their faces turned scarlet when they realized they had company.
"I see nothing!" Taehyung cried.
"We saw everything," Madeline deadpanned.
"You play piano?" Jeongguk gasped, hobbling over to Yoongi's side and scanning the instrument with innocent eyes.
"Play the child a song, baby." Hoseok poked at the boy next to him, smirking ever so slightly.
Yoongi huffed in fake displeasure. "Fine. But only because Jeongguk has puppy eyes and saying no to that is a sin in itself."
The rest of the day centered around the common room, everyone huddled up on the couch to watch the movie with the lights out.
Taehyung heard a sniffle midway and turned to the boy whose head was situated on his lap. "You crying, Bambi?"
"That goddamn song always makes me cry," Jeongguk muttered in spite, blinking back tears.
The brunette ran his fingers through Jeongguk's raven locks and kissed his hairline. "There, there. It's okay to cry."
Taehyung continued combing through his boyfriend's hair as reassurance for the rest of the movie, only to realize the poor boy had fallen asleep on his lap, eyelids shut and lips naturally pouting.
The brunette raised a finger to his mouth, signaling to the others to stay quiet so Jeongguk could get some rest.
He couldn't wait to have his Bambi back in bed with him so he could admire the peaceful expression on his face, kiss him all over and cradle him to dreamland.
There was no room for nightmares anymore... right?
__________
right? ;)
i know it doesn't make sense that they're watching Your Name Engraved Herein cause (i'm pretty sure) it came out in September and this story happened in summer but god i'm sorry that movie is all i think about lately lmao. it was such a great movie.
my friends and i watched it and we all collectively sobbed during the ending. i won't spoil. but yeah. watch it if you want a good LGBT+ love story. it's about two boys.
"in 1987, as martial law ends in Taiwan, Jia-han and Birdy fall in love amid family pressures, homophobia and social stigma."
ha ha i still torture myself with the song in this movie fck
anyway
ily as always and i hope you're doing well
if you're not, my comment sections are always always open for ranting and i will always always answer
see you in the next chapter, where we're all gonna be very pissed at kook's father
hope you're ready
- hay ♥️