Jungkook's POV
I honestly didn't think I could remember a time where I was as happy as I was now. Perhaps there was a time when I was a child, naive and oblivious to what life could offer and completely content with what I had at hand, that could compare to the happiness coursing through me these days, but I doubted it was as good then as it is now anyway.
It's like whenever I'm in a room that holds all my soulmates, a current runs through me that satisfies every need I could have, emotionally and physically. It was strong, overpowering almost, but also lingering and hidden, a constantly present background with an adaptive volume button.
Before Hannah had turned 20 I had thought that the feeling of being with the guys was the highest point of my life. The love I held for them and still hold for them without a doubt the strongest I've ever loved anyone in my life. But once Hannah came into the picture I've come to realise it was almost like she enhanced everything I was feeling. Not just towards her, but towards all my soulmates. Like her presence in our bond made the entire connection stronger, more vivid and colourful.
The happiness I was feeling could also of course have a link to how I've been able to just relax and write music and hang out in the studio for the past week. Some proper relaxation does definitely do something to your perspective.
But I was happy, and in turn I was happy that I was happy. And that is not a bad circle to be stuck in any day of the week.
The song Yoongi and I are writing with PiBlo had me more excited about writing music than I'd been for months. I had ended up in a rut after writing a song with Jimin where I ended up devastated over not being confident about the result. The song turned out bad when I really wanted it to be great and it effectively broke my confidence in song writing.
After that I'd dreaded trying to start writing something else because I was afraid it would turn out as bad as that one. Not that I didn't write bad songs that ended up in the discard pile before, but somehow the one with Jimin just hit me differently.
Writing lyrics with Piblo and Yoongi however, was simply enchanting to be honest. PiBlo was an incredibly talented songwriter and producer. I'd listened to his music for years before I manned up and reached out for contact information to message him. Once I got his email it took me another month before I actually wrote him anything.
I messaged him like a fan, but signed my own name on the bottom of the email. Playing it safe just in case he had heard of me, and to my surprise it turned out PiBlo liked our music a lot.
This was about a year ago, but we've been corresponding back and forth ever since and it's been fun getting to know another artist that I truly admire. PiBlo was everything I knew he was and then some. With a tightly rooted social anxiety he had created a bunch of different personas he wrote music under, not wanting too much recognition under any of the names. He also doesn't really do live shows, is confident in his belief that some artists makes music that should be enjoyed live. Other artists make music that is meant to be enjoyed while lying in bed.
He is naturally a part of the latter category whereas I am part of the first.
The performance he would be doing with us at the festival would be under a brand new name, which he was intent on discarding after crediting this one song. He admitted quickly he didn't want as much attention to him as he worried he could get if he used one of his old personas for the appearance. It was his choice, I was just feeling privileged that I got to work with him.
Working with him was an opportunity on many levels. It was a way to practice my English pronunciations, it let me see how he expertly mixed his tracks and how his mind worked to make intricate levels within the music. The way he worked was beautiful, almost poetic and I was so lost in his attention to detail.
I was so happy I had found him all those years ago and decided to reach out. This was really something I'm glad I didn't have to know a life without.
"Do you think it could be the soulmate connection that drew you to him?" Jimin's voice spoke from behind me, pulling me successfully out of my thoughts to focus on him.
I turned slightly to give him a look of annoyance with his obvious intrusion into my head. Not that I necessarily felt any disdain towards him checking in on me now that he could, but it was still unusual to me to have two soulmates able to read my inner monologues.
Hannah was sleeping with her head resting on my lap, her slow breaths and low snores brushing like a slight wind against the thin fabric of my t-shirt where she was curled up in the direction of my stomach. In no way, shape or form did I want to wake her or have her move away from me because of a haste movement so I stayed calm and focused on not stirring her sleep.
"Jimin, come here. I want a kiss" I said, not looking at him, but instead focusing on the beauty on my lap.
"Let me guess, he kissed Hoseok last?" Came from Namjoon in the chair next to us, his face hidden behind the screen of his laptop while he worked on writing some emails.
"Haven't you noticed him doing that? It's obvious which gift he likes best" Jin walked into the room in perfect timing to join the conversation in a hushed tone in order to not wake Hannah.
"And here I thought it was because I was a good kisser" Hoseok chimed in disappointedly from the other side of me.
Jimin finally showed himself in my line of sight to comfortably plop himself onto Hoseok's lap in the other end of the sofa. "You are a great kisser Hobi" Jimin flirted and drew our soulmate into a kiss.
My soulmates showing affection towards each other would never be something I could get tired of. The happiness and genuine joy I felt when I could see my soulmates happy, observing their beauty and passion from an outside perspective while knowing I held the same amount of love towards the both of them as they do each other and me was something almost unbearably powerful.
"But do you not think I might have a point, Kook?" Jimin turned his head towards me, Hoseok's chest rising in rapid breaths beside him from an obviously affecting kiss. "Don't you think you finding PiBlo could be the soulmate link at work, making sure we'd have this time to spend with her when we did find her?"
His words made sense. And it had been something that had crossed my mind before, though I quickly discarded it somewhat uneasy with the thought of everything I think I do because I want to, turning out to be an involuntary task set up by the universe to keep the wheels spinning.
"You're probably not wrong Jimin. But I would like to consider my friendship with PiBlo as something I did, not something I had no say in and just had to do because fait made it so."
Jimin nodded and agreeing hums were vocalised from my other soulmates present.
"I don't really care about the bigger picture as long as it brought us to her." I finished as I let my gaze once more fall to her face cutely scrunched up against my white t-shirt.
Hannah had been noticeably different since her phone call with Martin three days ago, as if a weight was lifted from her shoulders she seemed more free in her words and her actions.
It was a refreshing sight, seeing her more openly affectionate towards us. We had immediately after getting to know her agreed that we would let her set the pace. No one would do anything unless it was obvious she was comfortable and willing to spend time with us. Her situation was different compared to when the seven of us first connected. We already knew each other well, we were already familiar with each others habits, personalities and being in each others presence. Whereas Hannah would need time to develop that same familiarity towards us.
Jin had even mentioned the slight chance she could choose not to want to develop an equal affection, painfully aware of the tiny strings of doubt laced within her emotions. But I couldn't bear the thought of that as a reality. I'd only known her personally for a little over a week, but I'd already grown so attached to her presence I don't think I would cope well if she chose to keep this connection as a surface level thing.
Her blonde hair fell across her face when she adjusted her sleeping body and I quickly brushed it away, letting my fingers linger longer than necessary on the skin of her cheek against them. You'd think when having as many soulmates as I did, you'd get used to the fluttering within your stomach whenever you laid your eyes on them, but that was far from the truth. Even now surrounded by my soulmates I felt giddy if I caught the attention of any of them. Excitedly hovering within the feeling of adoration whenever I caught their eyes or heard their voices.
Like the world is a constant grey and they're the splash of colour needed to see the beauty in things. And the excitement of that sight never grows old.
Looking at Hannah had me eagerly thinking about a future with her, the thought of being able to treat her more like a girlfriend than a close female friend I was attracted to hadn't left my mind since Jimin had started openly flirting with her the day they arrived. I had no intention of seeming jealous but it naturally came as a bad tasting truth when I realised Hannah had grown closer to some of our soulmates she had met after she had met me.
It made me feel like I was doing something wrong.
I still blamed myself for what happened with the fan at the rest stop, the thought that Hannah could be blaming me as well was a constant worry stuck in my mind. Afraid the event had changed her view of me as a suited soulmate because of the pain my actions had left her in.
Being stuck in the studio working for our entire stay here didn't really help my thoughts either when I saw everyone's relationship with her evolving and mine staying at the same place. I spent all my time away from the studio trying to get closer to her, relishing in every time I could make her laugh.
This morning I had walked into the living room to find Hannah crouched over her iPad drawing something. She admitted she'd been up all night working on a project because she was afraid she would lose her inspiration if she went to sleep. I made her a cup of tea and a sandwich which she consumed without looking up from her iPad even once.
Only ten minutes later her eyelids were dropping in front of her line of sight, forcing her to take a break and she had without hesitation walked over to me on the couch, laying down to use my lap as a pillow and fell asleep within seconds of getting comfortable.
I didn't have words to describe the pride of how emotionally intimate and endearing I found her gesture and with each soft breath pushing against me as she slept I grew more and more in awe of her. Taking in the scent of her shampoo, the warmth of her body penetrating my clothes, and the silent hum of our soulmate bond vibrating between us.
That was four hours ago, it was now 12pm and everyone in the house were awake. All of the others coming out to the living room curious as to why Hannah hadn't been in bed.
She did share a bedroom with Jimin and I. But that didn't mean it was just the three of us sleeping there. I don't think we've awoken a single day without an extra body or two in the bed.
I think we all were fixating on her during this stay, not at all unaware of the bonds thrumming between all of us, but somehow able to push it down in order to focus on making sure she gets a good impression of us and hopefully wants to keep spending time with us. We didn't love each other any less because of her addition to the equation, we just were all really trying to make sure we did right by her, showing her what a life with us could look like. And we all gave each other space to be with her, similarly eager to spend time with our other soulmates.
"I made breakfast, come eat" Yoongi said from the doorway before he turned on the spot and walked back to the kitchen where he came from.
"I don't wanna wake her" I said lowly, looking down at the sleeping beauty in my lap.
As if my words possessed her she jumped up from my lap without a seconds' notice and scared me from her abrupt movement.
Her hands traveled to her eyes and she rubbed the sleep away from them while groaning a tired complaint.
"I hate it when he does that" she mumbled and turned to set her legs on the floor.
Her tired eyes moved towards me and she smiled a smile that had my knees shaking. "Morning" She whistled significantly happier than her previous comment before standing up and reaching her hand out to me.
"Are you coming? I am starving." She seemed unfazed by the fact that Yoongi had pulled her straight out of her sleep like that, immediately recovering to her happy and kind self.
We walked into the kitchen meeting a table filled with a bunch of different dishes. Yoongi must have really been cooking for a long time if he made all this for breakfast. I sent him a grateful smile as we sat down, my mouth watering at the smell of the delicious food.
The silence of eating fell across the room immediately, savouring the eager consumption of food to fuel our day.
"I have a question" Hannah said, making all seven pairs of eyes fall onto her.
"We might have an answer" Namjoon joked and motioned for her to continue.
"Is it okay if I ask a friend of mine to come join me watching you perform at the festival? I'd feel more comfortable not being alone there and she's a fan of you guys so I think she'd really enjoy it. I don't plan on telling her about what you all are to me seeing as she's a non believer in the soulmate stuff and she also runs a Jimin update page on twitter which would just make things awkward. I'll tell her I got the tickets from a client and use that as an excuse to leave when the performance is over."
Namjoon, Jin and Hoseok were sharing looks across the table telling all of us they were discussing it between the three of them. Hannah's eyes were showing a thick layer of hope for her request to be accepted. To all of our surprise it was Yoongi who spoke up first.
"Of course Hannah, that's completely fine." The three discussing soulmates turned towards him in surprise.
"What kind of soulmates would we be if we stopped you from doing things you enjoy with people you are close to? I'm happy as long as you're happy and I think it's healthy with a dose of normal within a time where almost everything is the opposite of that. I have an extra entry ticket in my bag, remind me to give it to you." He continued and the happiness in Hannah's eyes beamed like a sun from his comment.
Silence was spread across the table and the guilt present in Namjoon, Jin and Hoseok's faces from obviously having discussed mere seconds ago the pros and cons of her spending time with a friend was almost painful to watch.
I send my hand on a mission to find hers under the table and once our fingers entwine I squeeze it tight in assurance.
"I hope to one day meet your friends and not be a secret" I whisper in her ear and she giggles a delightful laugh and nods cutely.
"I hate the sound of that" Taehyung commented from beside me. "I hate that we have to be a secret you have to keep" He looks at Hannah. "I'm sorry that the excitement around finding your soulmates is dampened by the fact that we are famous. It shouldn't be like this."
Hannah stops him from saying more, speaking up herself.
"I've already told you that I am fine with that, so stop worrying about it. It might be unconventional but that doesn't mean it is any less special to me. My friend is a big BTS fan so it would be uncomfortable to tell her regardless of if you all would be cool about it. But I think I would have a good time experiencing your performance with her, which is why I wanted to invite her."
Taehyung sighs and nods as she gives him a look of assurance, the weird tension over the topic is immediately lifted when Yoongi's phone rings to drown out every other sound across the big table. Our manager tells him he's outside to pick us up and I get up from my chair to run and get my bag and jacket, knowing we're already slightly behind schedule.
We were going into the studio by ourselves today, it was the last day we had to record before the track was to be sent in for mastering. The hope was to be able to release it on all platforms the same day of the first performance of it, which was only two whole days away so we were on a tight schedule.
I met Yoongi by the door where he waited for me twirling a set of car keys between his fingers.
"I told them we'd drive our own car" He explained as we walked out shouting goodbyes into the apartment before closing the door.
It was always a scary thought when we went in without Namjoon or Hannah like this because I constantly felt like my English could fail me at any moment and suddenly I'd had to retort to using translation apps to communicate with my English speaking friend. I'd been practicing hard even before it fell naturally in my head through Hannah's native understanding of the language, but still I doubted my skills to be enough to portray my meanings through words in a foreign language.
Yoongi took my hand in his and rested it on his thigh as he drove towards the studio.
"You're worrying again. Stop it."
"Oh wow I didn't know I could just stop worrying and they'd be gone just like that" I said sarcastically and tried to retrieve my hand from his but his hand followed and rested on top of my thigh.
"You know that's not what I meant, there's nothing to worry about, your English is fine!"
I rolled my eyes at him, arms crossed across my chest in childish frustration but the heat of his hand on my thigh almost singlehandedly enough to break the image of annoyance I was trying to portray. Yoongi was a calming presence to me, he always had been, and though his bossy personality was sometimes annoying it was never not laced with a thick layer of consideration and affection.
Arriving at the building housing the studio we met PiBlo as he parked his car next to ours before we walked in to start working. He was in his normal cheerful mood and seemed excited to keep working even though it felt like we'd done nothing but work for so many days already.
I guess he didn't taste the same separation anxiety as me whenever he was here without an entourage of people. It made sense.
"No translator today?" He asked us, looking around us to notice we had no one with us today.
"Not today, we gave her the day off" Yoongi explained, we had introduced her as our English translator as a scape for explaining why she was around us all the time and why we could occasionally be seen whispering things to her alone. It was a weak lie but a believable one.
"Ah too bad, she was cute"
I looked to Yoongi and his eyes met mine in a stern but amused look. "Yeah, she is" He said and chuckled lowly at the comment.
"Don't say anything stupid. He doesn't know. Don't get protective" Yoongi's voice rang inside my head just as I had opened my mouth to say something. I closed it again, thinking more about what to actually say.
"Protective over what?" Hoseok asked, that natural born stalker.
"PiBlo thinks Hannah's cute" I responded, the frustration apparent in my voice even through the mind link as I really wanted to say out loud that Hannah was not available.
"Oh really? My gaydar was giving me clear signals he was gay!" Hoseok was laughing
"Not the first time that thing's been wrong though is it?" I teased, reminding him of how he was convinced Namjoon must have gotten the soulmate theory wrong because he was confident Taehyung was straight.
"Stop bickering, we need to work" came from Yoongi and only then did I notice we had actually arrived at the studio door and I had spaced out in my conversation with Hoseok. I cleared my throat and pretended to be reading something of a picture across the wall before scratching the back of my neck and awkwardly walking in after the two men.
We worked on the song for hours. Sometimes I felt like we'd never get it good enough to the point where we felt we could release it, PiBlo sang his parts a million times until he was pleased with it and then in turn I did the same, Yoongi's rap parts were detailed and intricate but somehow he had nailed them on his first try and had ended up being the one by the mixing table while the two of us ran back and forth to the mic.
Once we finally had the base vocals down we had to record adlibs, and instead of harmonising with our own parts we wanted to flip it to create play in the layers by harmonising each other's parts, which also turned out to take much longer than we thought it would.
Our managers came with a delivery dinner at around 8pm when we'd forgotten to eat anything until then and they'd gotten worried.
Recording my adlibs I had a clear view through the window to look at Yoongi where he sat and expertly clicked buttons and looked professional. His intent knowledge of what music he wanted to make and what the result was supposed to sound like was incredibly attractive and I couldn't help but be in awe whenever he spoke through the mic to direct my singing.
PiBlo suggested I also harmonise Yoongi's rap, but wanted us to record it together to make even more layers in the music. After staring at my boyfriend from behind the window for so long I felt giddy when the gorgeous man came through the door and joined me by the mic.
This was my favourite Yoongi, the one I got to experience right now. Right before a recording you could see the insecurity in his eyes, the doubt in himself present in every movement he made. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and when he opened them again, all of that was gone and in its place was confidence and determination. It was the hottest thing I knew, and seeing it so close in front of me had my mind wandering miles away from where it was supposed to be.
"You're staring" Yoongi whispered through the bond.
"I can't help it, you're mesmerising"
A blush reached his cheeks and I felt confident in my flirtatious mood.
"You're distracting me"
"No, I'm pretty sure I am the one getting distracted right now. Have you seen you? Looking at you right now makes me want to grab you and.."
"Okay let's start yeah?" Yoongi cut my inner rant off and asked PiBlo to begin. I laughed at his reaction but the redness colouring the tips of his ears and the apples of his cheeks was not lost on me as we continued.
It was midnight when we finally saw ourselves done with the track. Yoongi was so happy with it he was smiling from ear to ear and PiBlo had listened to it five times in a row just to make sure he would be equally pleased with it the fifth time as he was the first.
I had been hyper focusing on Yoongi the majority of the final hours of song making and felt like a giddy teenager on a first date when we walked back to the car after saying goodbye to PiBlo.
"This feels like a date" I said, wiggling my eyebrows at my boyfriend.
"We've literally been working for 11 consecutive hours Jungkook"
"I don't care. This feels like a date. It feels like we've been to see a movie neither of us paid attention to only to leave early to sit in the hallway whispering sweet nothings to each other. And now you're going to drive me home and I'm all giddy and in love" I smiled and took Yoongi's arm to link with mine.
"Jungkook we live together. And you're driving"
"Don't ruin my vision!"
Yoongi sighed and unlinked our arms only to wrap his arm around my waist and pull me flush against his torso. Even though I had a couple centimetres on him his presence still felt intimidatingly towering against me.
"Okay, so now what? What else is part of your vision? We stop somewhere romantic and I feel you up in the back of the car?"
I couldn't help but let a surprised laugh escape my throat at his sudden change in attitude. His eyes were dark with something else and it no longer seemed like I was the only one desiring him. I smiled a wide smile towards him.
"You read my mind, get in" I said and opened the passenger car door for him.
Hoseok's POV
I'd been paying attention to the thoughts of Jungkook and Yoongi for the past hour to see when they would be home, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I saw the direction the night was taking. Those two were literal teenagers at times and it was thrilling to witness.
"I don't think we need to wait up for them" I whispered towards Namjoon who was resting his back to my torso as he browsed his phone.
"No?" He asked back, attention still on the phone.
I laughed again and when he turned to look at me I wiggled my eyebrows to suggest what they were up to and Namjoon sighed through a laugh in understanding.
"Those two..." He mumbled and I giggled.
We stood in the doorway of the first bedroom of the hallway looking at our soulmates sleeping in a pile in the bed that was initially meant to belong to Hannah, Jimin and Jungkook but had become something of a 'whoever fits, stays' kind of bed. Seeing them sleep comfortably made me happy as I turned the lights off and shut the door.
We walked to our own bedroom and did our nightly routines before plopping into the bed like two tired sacks of potatoes. My nightly face mask was on my face and Namjoon had gone back to looking at something on his phone.
"Should we be making more of an effort with her?" I asked, knowing I'd always be better off speaking my thoughts instead of marinating them in my own mind first.
"I think we do everything we can to help her be comfortable around us. She seems content. Why are you wondering?" Namjoon had put down his phone and turned to look at me.
"No I've been thinking about the thing at breakfast. How she had to ask for our permission to be with a friend. I didn't like that. I want her to be able to live her life while also being with us. I feel like that might not be what we're telling her through our actions though."
Namjoon understood and I could see the guilt trouble his beautiful features as he thought my words over.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring down the mood" I muttered and rested my hand on the warm skin of his arm.
"No I'm happy you share your thoughts Hobi. I never want you to think you can't. Why don't you take her into town tomorrow? Do normal things, spend the entire day sightseeing and shopping. I'm sure she'd like that and I know you love doing that when you can."
His words created excitement over the idea even before he'd finished talking and I could feel anticipation already building up within me.
"That's a good idea! I also did tell Jungkook we'd go to that gallery in town, maybe he'd want to go with us!"
The alarm on my phone went off to tell me it was time to take my face mask off and as if it was routine, Namjoon reached towards my face and pulled it off before throwing it into the bin by the bed.
He moved his face towards mine and kissed my lips softly, the fluttering feeling of his skin on mine lingering much longer than the kiss itself, sending a warmth through my body.
"That sounds like the perfect idea" He pecked my lips again before moving back in the bed, pulling me in to rest into his side.
"I wish we all could go together, but it would be difficult to stay unnoticed. I think the experience would be dampened if we had to hide constantly."
I sighed. I also wanted us to do things like that together, but I knew he was right.
"I know honey, one day." It was an empty promise, but a promise nonetheless. Not empty because it was based on an untrue intention, but because it was out of their knowledge to know if that day would indeed come.
Waking up somewhat early the next morning I was in the middle of a man sandwich, Jungkook now cuddled into the space that was empty when I went to sleep last night. I let my arms wrap around him and hugged him to me tightly, smelling his skin like it was an addictive drug.
"Morning" He muttered deeply under the sleepy lump in his voice and I almost moaned from the sound of how attractive he sounds in the morning. Unwrapping myself from the hold of Namjoon and Jungkook I got up and joined Jin in the kitchen where he was cooking up a breakfast similar in scale to the one Yoongi had presented the day before.
Without saying much of anything we went into a comfortable coexistence where we prepared the familiar foods together, only sharing sweet glances and fluttering touches as we passed each other in the small kitchen.
I called everyone to the table as Jin was placing dishes spread out in the centre and within seconds we could hear feet running towards us.
It was Namjoon who ended up asking Hannah and Jungkook if they wanted to go into town with me today. Not because I didn't want to ask them myself, but he had been observing me through the meal, finding immense joy and entertainment in watching the display of my inner turmoil as I looked for an appropriate moment to ask them. As probably obvious I didn't find said moment and instead Namjoon brought it up completely unrelated to anything we were talking about, a slight giggle hovering over his words as he looked lovingly my way.
After getting dressed and dollied up to go outside we all got in the car and drove towards the town centre.
"It's weird, we've been here for almost a week and I haven't really seen much of the town" Hannah mumbled from the back seat, Jungkook nodded in agreement from beside me as he stared out the window.
The town was charming, small stores disguised behind old historic buildings, only visible from the signs tastefully hung up to indicate their presence. The cafés all looked homey and secluded, and the restaurants similarly placed to be inviting but not obvious. It was aesthetically pleasing how the town was moderately modern while still looking like something out of an old movie. Utterly fascinating.
Jungkook had googled to find a place with milkshakes as that was all he could think of wanting now that we were finally in town after a short walk in the warm sunlight. I easily understood his thirst for something cold as he was wearing a complete black outfit, long sleeves long legs and a bucket hat in the warm weather. He must be melting inside those clothes, and as much as I wanted to let my thoughts drift to how much I enjoyed the sight of a sweaty Jungkook I was painfully aware that Hannah could read my thoughts at any time and I didn't deem it as the right time to invade her mind with my not necessarily inappropriate, but maybe badly timed dirty thoughts about my boyfriend.
We sat on a bench in the shade drinking our milkshakes, Jungkook was so happy he was practically glowing from having something to cool him down, and Hannah was tapping her feet on the ground in excitement about being out experiencing this place.
"It's weird walking around like this, like we're breaking a rule or something" Hannah said when we walked out of a store 20 minutes later.
Her words weren't emotionally loaded but I felt a pang of regret as she spoke.
"I'm sorry you feel like there are rules. There shouldn't be."
Hannah doesn't say anything, but hums in what I decipher as understanding. I try not to step into her mind to have a cheating look at the answer sheet and instead I go with the flow of the conversation.
Hannah stops in her steps and turn towards Jungkook and me.
"I have a thing I've been wanting to do here. Considering the circumstances it is a little unconventional and maybe inappropriate, but I told myself if I ever came here I would go there"
"Say no more, we'll go" I said and she clapped her hands happily before pulling up her phone to find directions.
10 minutes more of walking and we were stood outside a building with big letters spelling 'K-pop' on the side.
I turned to Hannah and couldn't help but laugh as I saw the anxiety in her posture as she took in our reaction to the destination. She was utterly adorable, it was obvious that she felt great excitement about going here, we all knew she had been a k-pop fan long before she met us, and it was just natural that she still would be now. But it still caught me off guard how she seemed almost embarrassed of the fact she wanted to go here.
"There aren't many places selling K-pop stuff where I live, this one is the biggest in this part of the country. I've been wanting to go here for years" She explained and looked down onto the ground in order to avoid our eye contact.
Jungkook's smile was almost so wide it wrapped around his head, he was crushing on the woman in front of us so bad and it was visible through every single speck of him. He wasn't alone in that emotional development however and I too could feel the anticipation for an immense satisfaction from being able to experience Hannah in her element.
"Go in" I said and smiled towards her. "I don't think it'll be a good idea if we go in, but we'll wait for you right here" I send her a wink and nodded her along towards the entrance of the shop.
Jungkook and I walked to a bench right by the entrance and as we sat down Jungkook grabbed my arm tightly to steady himself and I looked at him to see his eyes glassed over, I didn't even have to ask to know he was seeing what Hannah was seeing.
"Hyung, there's no one there. The cashier is reading a book. No one will see us in there, please can we go in?"
I considered it for a long second, but Jungkook's begging eyes burning into me from the side had me convinced before I'd even thought thoroughly through it. Moments later he was dragging me by the arm into the store excitedly.
"Welcome to AllKpop, my name is Ida, let me know if I can help with anything" the voice was monotonous from behind the register, coming from a young girl with her head buried in a book. Jungkook and I froze for a second, awaiting her to look up and see us, but she didn't.
I felt as if I was on a secret mission. I'd walked into stores like these before naturally, but never without an appointment of an appearance or for promo. Walking in under the pretence of not knowing there is a separate section of the store dedicated to BTS was something different. Holy crap, there is actually a separate section dedicated to BTS.
A TV screen met us within the store and Jungkook immediately started giggling when he saw the music video for Idol playing silently on it. It was all strange, almost addictively thrilling to see the enthusiasm around my work, but nonetheless strange.
I enjoyed fan interactions, we all did. Probably more than normal considering our occupation. Unless occupied with something else or in a hurry we always stopped and signed things or took pictures or just chatted with fans. Naturally there were those fans obsessive enough to need to be controlled as to not create troubles for themselves and us, but that was not the majority and we made sure to remember that between incidents of meeting them.
Seeing the K-pop world from this perspective was fascinating though. Everything my world consists of packed into a store, my entire life's work fitted into a section of shelves and the walls around it covered in pictures of my soulmates and I.
I looked around for the missing soulmate and found Hannah by a section with new releases. She held a couple albums in her arm and I approached her slowly, aware she had not noticed our presence yet.
"Oh shit I'm sor... Hobi?" She stumbled to the side when I tapped her shoulder and almost dropped the albums in her hands. I took them into mine for her and smiled kindly.
"Jungkook saw nobody in here. We wanted to shop with you. What are you looking at?"
Hannah smiled bright enough to challenge the stars and her obvious excitement to share her passion was infectious.
"Those are albums I've wanted but not found the time to get. Thought this would be a good time to get them!"
"Where's Jungkook?" She asked and I realised I hadn't paid attention to where Jungkook had gone.
As if on cue he appeared from behind a set of shelves.
"Hobi, Hannah! They have photo cards! I'm getting a Jimin one, he's so handsome." He called excitedly and showed us his photo card of Jimin.
We both laughed and walked to the register with him.
Hannah placed both her albums to be scanned and to my surprise the girl working there still didn't look up at her even when leaving her book to the side for her to be able to do her job. Hannah had also grabbed a copy of Love Yourself : Her, even after I told her I could get all the albums for her for free but she wouldn't listen. The girl looked at the album and finally spoke.
"Who's your BTS bias?" She asked, her eyes looking at Hannah for half a second before she moved around to get something behind her.
"Uhh, I don't really have one. I like them all" Hannah said awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head.
"We've got promo photo cards for our store, the back has all our socials." The girl explained.
"I don't have any cards with all of them but you can pick a random one" She continued and Hannah nodded before pulling a card from the stack the girl was holding out.
It was so awkward standing right next to this interaction, and when Hannah had finished her purchase and moved away for Jungkook to go next it felt like ice running through my veins in anticipation. Wondering if the girl would end up looking at him long enough to recognise him.
Jungkook's English was better than expected, I felt a sense of pride form in my chest from how his practice had paid off. He managed to go the entire purchase without her looking up. He had ended up purchasing four Jimin photo cards so the cashier just assumed he was a Jimin bias and added a promo card fitting into his bag.
I was so sure we'd managed to go shopping in a K-pop store without being recognised, turning around to exit the store with my two soulmates it was suddenly apparent that the excitement was premature.
"Excuse me" Was heard from behind us and as if planned, Hannah was the only one to turn around again while Jungkook and I walked steadily towards the exit. We were out of the store before we could hear what the cashier asked Hannah.
"Where the hell do the two of you think you're going?" Hannah's voice rang like a siren inside our heads.
"Get the hell back in here. She's devastated!"
What the lady wants, the lady gets.
We walked back in, the girl behind the register was in tears, Hannah explained she'd realised when she saw Jungkook's tats and would not stop crying now because she thought she'd missed the opportunity to meet them.
It was sweet in an abnormal way. We signed some albums for her, took a couple of pictures with her which she promised to post no earlier than a week from now, and then she was in a better mood and we managed to escape without a scandal arising anytime soon.
The rest of the day with Hannah and Jungkook was nothing but magical. After a whole lot of shopping, sightseeing, going to the gallery we had talked about and having a fabulous dinner we were all back in the car ready to go home.
Jungkook was half asleep in the backseat and Hannah and I were talking about our day. She looked tired as well, but not so much so that she couldn't stay awake. We'd done so much walking and eating and laughing it was a miracle we were still in one piece by the end of the day. But I had one last stop on my list of things to do today and I was pulling the car in to where I was supposed to be.
"I have a surprise" I whispered, trying not to wake Jungkook in the back seat. "But you need to promise not to read my mind. I want the surprise to be genuine"
Hannah looked intrigued and bobbed her head up and down in agreement. I stopped the car and got out before running to her side and opening her door to let her out like I've seen gentlemen do in movies.
We walked up to a store across the road and I tapped the glass of the door lightly to signal my arrival. On the other side I saw a man approaching that I had only seen in pictures and talked to on the phone. He let us in with a kind greeting and locked the door again behind us.
"Hoseok what are we doing here?" Hannah looked around her, it was obvious now that we were at a jewellery shop and I could feel the anxiety of my future actions build up within me.
"Sit down please" The store owner asked Hannah politely and pointed to a chair in front of a mirror. She did as he asked and sat down. I walked over to where she was sitting and hugged her side, taking in the beautiful girl in front of me and the thrill of seeing her confusion.
"Close your eyes please" I asked and kissed her cheek as sensually as I could. Trying to build the tension of this even higher for my own satisfaction. She smiled and during a sharp inhale she eagerly shut her eyes closed.
I walked over to the owner who was holding a necklace by the chain. It was a gold necklace as I'd noticed Hannah only had jewellery that had gold in it and hanging from the middle of it were 8 separate diamonds. It was a piece I had seen on the store's instagram and immediately thought I wanted to get for Hannah. But where my plan had previously been to buy it and give it to her in the future, giving a big speech about how I knew this would last so I bought a necklace during our first week together, it had now turned into a spontaneous gift because I got so excited to show my affection towards her.
I walked towards her, the owner immediately joining me and lifting the curled blonde hair from Hannah's back. I let the necklace fall into place around her neck, chuckling at Hannah's reaction to the cold gold against her skin, and clasped the ends together before the man let go of the hair and stood back.
"Okay open your eyes" I said, my hands firmly resting on her shoulders as I took in her eyes scanning the necklace.
She opened her eyes excitedly and saw the chain around her neck, immediately tears welled up in her eyes and she turned to face me.
"It's beautiful" She said, but she wouldn't have had to say anything to portray her emotions, it was all plainly written in her actions and every movement, every smile, every glance told me everything I needed to know.
I'd done right in giving it to her now.
"I'd kiss you if I could" she whispered seductively to my brain and I don't think I've ever been so eager to feel someone's lips on mine before.
"I told him I bought a necklace for my girlfriend. He said he'd keep quiet" I responded, and her eyes met mine in an instant.
"Girlfriend you say?" She stood up from the chair and walked towards me slowly.
When she was facing me, her breath heating up every nerve on my face she let a tear fall from one eye as she smiled brightly at me.
"I like the sound of that" She said and kissed me, powerfully, eagerly, it was a thank you and a you're welcome in one. Strong emotions built up over time let out through the sensation of two pairs of lips meeting in an endless embrace. She tasted sweet, her tongue soft against mine as the kiss deepened and I locked my hands around her waist before I lifted her to match my height and giving a better angle for the kiss to continue.
Everything about her was inviting me in, she smelt nice, tasted nice, the sounds of her moans as my tongue flicked across hers almost deafening in the sense that I could not hear anything else. I was on a different planet, a different universe consisting of just me and her, and I didn't want to leave.
Once we parted it was because of the store owner clearing his throat, he probably wanted to close his store and not watch two people make out in the middle of it. I could understand that. Did I like it? No not at all, but I did understand where he was coming from? Yes, definitely.
Jungkook was still sleeping when we arrived at the car again, he had probably not even noticed us leaving, his slow and steady breaths like a song escaping his lungs as he traveled through his mind on a trip through his dream land.
The drive home was quiet while loud. Hannah had one hand constantly fidgeting with the necklace, looking out the window but then turning to look at me in small intervals. Almost as if she was analysing me, figuring out my movements, memorising my features. Her stare was endearing and warm upon my skin as the gazes lingered for longer each time she turned to look at me. I couldn't help but smile and she caught it, but instead of turning away, from the corner of my eye I could see a similar smile light up her face and she leaned over the mid console to place a warm peck on my cheek before moving back.
"Thank you for today. It's been everything I wanted" She said and let her gaze move out the window once more, but the smile was still present on her face, telling me she was still thinking about me.
I hummed before I responded. "Thank you for coming with me. I've had a really good time with you today."
A sigh escaped her body from my side and I glanced over to look at her to figure out what triggered it.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing.." She giggled "I was just thinking about my boyfriend"
For a long second my heart sunk in my chest at the words, devastated at the mention of Martin after the day we had had. Then it clicked and I saw her eyes on me in the most beautiful gaze I've seen on her. Hopeful, playful, excited and teasing.
"Your boyfriend must be a lucky guy" I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my lips, but tried to keep my attention on the road ahead of me.
"No actually, I'm the lucky one. You should see my boyfriend. He's so handsome, like you wouldn't believe he was real if you met him. His skin is smooth like a baby, his hair is dark and soft, hanging just above his beautiful eyes, he's tall, has the body of a dancer... and on top of all of that he is the kindest man I ever had the pleasure of meeting. He considers my feelings, takes my opinion into account before making a decision, hugs me when I need comfort and checks in on me even when we're not together just to make sure I'm alright. My boyfriend is not lucky. I am."
Her eyes were on the road as she spoke, her hands twirling the necklace between her fingers and without reading her mind I could hear she was genuine.
"If you think that's great you should meet my girlfriend.." I countered.
"She's so beautiful people stop and look twice when she walks by, her smile can make a room full of people want to smile back at her. She dares to show who she is through both her actions and words, making sure everyone knows where she stands. She's the perfect size to hug, the perfect height to kiss, and when we sleep she's just the right temperature against me under the covers."
Hannah was biting her lower lip beside me and the sight was making me want to taste them again immediately. I had to remind myself that I was indeed still driving a car.
"I have bad news" Hannah mumbled and her words sent me into a spiral of confusion.
"What?" I asked, immediately serious.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't think it would come to this but... I think my boyfriend and your girlfriend might be a good fit for each other."
I sighed and rolled my eyes, letting a laugh leave my throat.
"Yeah you might be right. I would even go so far as to say they may be made for each other, a perfect match"
Hannah didn't say anything, but the growing grin on her face and her hand reaching for mine spoke all the words she didn't.
Arriving at the apartment Hannah took on the task of waking Jungkook while I brought in the bags of things we had bought. Hannah and Jungkook went straight to their bedroom and said goodnight to everyone on their way while I threw my tired body onto the sofa hitting it against Jimin who was sitting there reading a book.
He didn't pay much attention to my presence which annoyed me in a moment where all I wanted to do was talk about my day.
"Aren't you going to ask me about my day?" I asked while looking up at him with my cutest smile.
"Do you want me to ask you how your day was?" He countered and put down his book to meet my eyes.
I nodded cutely and he giggled. "Okay how was your day baby?"
"My day was fabulous thank you for asking. I really had a great time in the city with my boyfriend and my girlfriend" I said, and then I looked at him, waiting for a reaction.
"Girlfriend?"
I nodded, no longer able to contain the joy that wanted to portray itself on my face. My heart was bursting with joy as I sat up in the sofa and went through every single highlight of my day in town with my two soulmates.
A/N
Oh man holy shit we hit 100k! And then while I was busy writing the 100k chapter we hit 110k! I don't really understand how this is real.
I did promise drama in my announcement yesterday, but it turns I had way too many ideas to fit in a traditional chapter. This chapter has 9100 words whereas a normal chapter in this book usually rests between 3k and 4k. had I included the drama we would probably be looking at something around 15000 words and that would get dreary and I also wouldn't be done with it for another week. But I do promise drama in the upcoming chapter so stay tuned.
I also thought i'd input that i am on twitter and if anyone would want to join me in freaking out about Butter i would enjoy that a lot. www.twitter.com/HildurrWrites
Thank you thank you thank you for reading my story! i appreciate it more than you know!
-H