"My mom is JK biased. My younger sister is Namjoon biased and my other sister is J-Hope biased. My brother is ot7," Crystal says, responding to JK's question about her family's biases in the group.
He'd gotten back about an hour prior, carrying his sleeping soulmate in his arms. She was feeling drained so he'd lied down with her until he felt her energy restore before joining them—as in all the members plus Crystal—in the living room. Seojun had gone home for some much needed rest after she'd met the rest of Bangtan and the living room had started to feel crowded.
It was an emotional moment for everyone when they woke up to see Suga doing so well for the first time in days. They'd visited his room briefly when she was still "asleep" but had left to rest, having been up for two days straight.
It was a little awkward for Crystal, who was now situated at the end of the couch, her and Yoongi so close their thighs were pressed together.
'Fuck, he smells good," she thinks, idly wondering if it was soap or his natural scent.
Whatever it was, it was intoxicating and it was making it hard for her to focus as the members bombarded her with questions.
"You told us everyone's bias except yours. Do you not have one?" J-Hope asks, making her chuckle as all their eyes zeroed in on her.
"I suppose you're my bias if I had to pick. It does change from time to time though so when people ask, I just say ot7 or I say I'm Hobi biased and ot6 are my bias wreckers," she answers, laughing when he cheers and looks at the other members smugly.
"Don't be so smug, she likes us all," Jimin says, elbowing him in the side.
"Don't fight kids," Jin scolds the two playfully.
Their banter is cut short by the nurse arriving to give Yoongi and Crystal their final check up for the day.
They move to his bedroom and sit on the edge of the bed, hands still intertwined as she checks their pulses, lungs, and blood pressure again.
"Everything looks great, even better now actually. You two can let go now but make sure you don't go too long without skin contact. If either of you start to feel funny or weird, that's why okay?" she says and they nod, pulling their hands apart for the first time since she'd joined them.
Crystal immediately felt out of place, like she was missing something and she knew it was him. It was an uncomfortable feeling that settled in her chest, making her mood fall.
Yoongi was feeling the same, but their faces showed their normal indifferent expressions so the nurse just shook her head and gathered her materials, bidding them goodbye until tomorrow and warning them not to eat anything besides soup.
With her gone, the atmosphere in the room immediately turned awkward and they sat there not knowing what the hell to say to each other.
"Well, I'm gonna go back out..." Yoongi says, gesturing towards the living room, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm gonna stay in here and make some phone calls," she says and he nods even though she wasn't looking up at him.
He hovers by the doorway for a moment, trying to figure out how to tell her to let him know if she needed him. His nature got the best of him though and the words died on his tongue as he exited the room, slowly making his way back to the living room.
Crystal called her mother on FaceTime and ended up talking to her and her siblings, reassuring them that she was fine now and that she would try to come home tomorrow and pick up some things. It was a tearful conversation to say the least, leaving Crystal emotionally drained after hanging up.
Sometime during her call, she'd lied down and now she was realizing just how comfortable this bed was. Deciding a nap wouldn't hurt after a good cry, she snuggles into the pillows that smell just like him and falls asleep surrounded in his scent.
About an hour later, Yoongi goes to check on her and notices that she's sleeping, sprawled out on top of the covers. Without much thought, he lifts her slightly so he could put her under the covers and tuck her in before sliding in behind her. He could really use a nap as well.
He lie there for a minute trying to figure out how they would get skin to skin while they slept. Thankfully, an unconscious Crystal made it easier for him when she turns to face him, placing her hand on his chest. He sighs in relief and covers her hand with his, immediately falling asleep afterwards.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
Crystal begrudgingly woke up due to her need to use the bathroom. She was super warm and comfortable and the last thing she wanted to do was open her eyes and move. She threw her leg over her body pillow, but it was a harder that she remembered, making her crack her eyes open. She blinks the sleep away as she slowly took in her surroundings.
She was definitely not in her room and what she threw her leg over was definitely not her body pillow. It was in fact her soulmate's waist that she'd thrown her leg over. Not only that, but she was sleeping on his chest and his hand was grasping hers, his other arm hugging her to him. She was now aware of his steady heartbeat in her ear, the rise and fall of his chest enough to lull her back to sleep if she let it. She screams internally and prays that he doesn't wake up, their position much too intimate for her to handle.
She gently removes his arm from around her and slides her hand from underneath his, slowly pulling back the covers. Her eyes never left his sleeping face as she backed out of bed carefully. She sighs in relief when she makes it out and hurried to the bathroom, softly shutting the door behind her.
She does her business and decides to do her morning routine. She didn't know what time it was but she definitely wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon.
She takes a quick shower and throws on a black cropped top, some cream colored sweatpants she recognizes from her mom's new collection, and some socks before pulling her hair into a bun.
Her stomach growls as she puts her dirty clothes away and she makes up her mind to go to the kitchen and find the leftover soup they'd had the day before. Apparently, Jin had made a lot in preparation, having remembered the experience that Jungkook and Sehee had. It was extremely tasty and she reminded herself to thank him for the gesture later.
Quietly exiting the bathroom, she grabs her phone off the charger on the bedside table and makes her way out of the room, closing the door back behind her.
She looks up and locks eyes with Taehyung, who gives her a cute wave. She waved back shyly, oddly feeling like she was doing a walk of shame.
"You're up early. How did you sleep?" he asks, his extra deep morning voice taking her by surprise.
'Damn boy,' she thought.
"I slept okay. Thanks for asking. What about you?" she asks, looking down at her phone for the time.
It was 6:45am.
"I took a short nap. I guess I slept too long yesterday. Hey, Sehee and I are about to eat and watch some TV. You want to join? She was just telling me how excited she is to meet you" he says, pointing in the direction of the living room.
"Sure, I was actually headed that way to heat up some soup," she says, letting him lead the way.
"Oh that's right, you can't eat solid foods yet right?" he asks and she nods.
"Not until Nurse Choi gives us the go ahead," she answers.
"That sucks. Excuse me and Sehee in advance for pigging out in front of you," he says apologetically.
"Eh, don't worry about it. I haven't had much of an appetite lately anyways. I couldn't even finish the whole bowl of soup yesterday," she says.
"Ugh, finally!" she hears who she assumes to be Sehee say.
"You're so impatient. I was talking to Crystal," he says, stepping aside so she could see her.
Sehee was beautiful. She had dark shoulder length, wavy hair that was styled much like Crystal wore hers and a nice face shape with nice eyes to match.
"Oh hi! I'm Sehee! Kookie told me about you yesterday but I was too tired to meet you," she says, sticking her hand out.
Crystal shakes it, slightly surprised at the greeting.
"Hi, I'm Crystal. I'm sure you already knew that. Are you American by any chance?" she asks, removing her hand from the woman's grip.
"I was born in Amarillo Texas actually. How did you know?" she asks.
"You shook my hand instead of bowing," Crystal chuckles when she makes a "O" face.
"Ah! That is a giveaway when I meet people. Are you American?" she asks.
"Yeah, I was born in Atlanta, Georgia but lived in Los Angeles, California before I moved here when I was 8," she replies.
"LA is beautiful. I went to college there," Sehee says.
"Oh really? That's cool," she replies.
They continue their conversation as Sehee and Taehyung prepare their snacks and Sehee had insisted on warming her soup for her on the stove, insisting it would taste better.
Crystal was thanking her lucky stars that Sehee was friendly considering the amount of time they would be spending together in the near future. Maybe having a friend around that understands her situation would make things more bearable for her.
She remembered JK saying that things weren't easy for them in the beginning and she idly wondered if JK was anything like Yoongi when he'd found out about Sehee. If so, she wondered how they overcame their issues.
Right now, her body and soul found comfort in Yoongi—definitely the effects of the bond. She could feel the pull in her chest constantly, noticeably duller after they'd had skin contact.
Despite all that though, she couldn't see herself trusting him with her head or her heart. She hoped she would be able to remain in control of herself and make him earn whatever relationship they'd decide to have in the future whether it be friendly or romantic.
For now, she'd keep it as cordial as possible.
A/N: Sehee is portrayed by Arden Cho. She was in Teen Wolf and Pretty Little Liars. In the story, she's 24, a year younger than Crystal and a year older than JK.