"Hello? This is Choi Soobin speaking," the young lawyer says as he answers the call from his end of the line.
"Hi, Mr. Choi," you giggle teasingly and Seokjin, who is currently sitting across from you, quirks a slightly amused eyebrow.
"Y/N?" It takes a moment for Soobin to recognize your voice, but when he finally does, the realization and surprise are clear in his tone.
"Yeah, it's me," you nod subconsciously.
"I didn't recognize this number so I was rather confused for a second there," he murmurs softly and you can already imagine the slight pout and creased eyebrows resting on his face.
"Sorry, I had to call from the landline at the pack's temporary house for safety precautions," you explain briefly. Your gaze flickers over to the older hybrids sitting at the dining table with you and you smile when Hoseok beams at you the moment you make eye contact with him.
"Why? Is everything alright?" the lawyer asks worriedly.
"Actually, I was calling to ask you for a favor," you sigh.
You were meant to go out shopping with the pack earlier this morning, just as you had promised them, so they can finally look for furniture to decorate their new house with. However, you had quickly realized that with your mom's people following you around town, leaving this house with the entire pack to go furniture shopping is far from being a wise idea. Instead, the eight of you spent the morning shopping online and looking for inspiration from various sites.
"Is the pack alright? Do you need me to take them in? I'm sure I can think of something. I'm sure Beomie wouldn't mind if we have to share our home for a little while. And of course, Junie would be over the moon to find out there will be more hybrids under our roof," Soobin begins to ramble.
Out of the corner of your eyes, you notice Namjoon's ears perk at the familiar-sounding nickname. You quietly mouth the word 'roommate' to remind the pack leader that Soobin has a roommate named Yeonjun.
"Slow down there, Soobin," you chuckle. "The pack is safe and well. No one is in danger - at least not yet."
"Oh, that's somewhat relieving to hear. Although I don't like that you implied there might be impending danger," the lawyer sighs in relief. "What do you need me to do?"
"Well, do you remember the prediction you made when I told you about my mom's surprise office visit?" you begin, drawing your memory back to the day you had called Soobin in a panic.
"Yes, and I still stand by it," he responds within a heartbeat. "Wait a minute don't tell me-"
"You were right," you confirm. "She's been following me around for a while."
"How long?" Soobin asks and you can practically hear the frown in his voice.
"Well, I can't be certain when it started. But I first noticed when she sent her secretary over to the pack's house," you purse your lips, deep in thought.
"Wait a minute, she what?" the lawyer gasps rather loudly - but rightfully so - out of pure shock.
"Boys? Do you want to explain? You were the ones here so you might explain it better than me," you motion to the four men sitting around you. Namjoon, Seokjin, Yoongi, and Hoseok blink at you blankly before looking around at each other as if they're silently deciding who will speak up on the pack's behalf. You're almost certain that person would have been Namjoon since he's the pack leader.
Yet, when the hesitant silence continues to drag out longer, you're tempted to just shove your phone into the nearest hybrid's hands to make them talk. Because at the moment, the four older hybrids look like a group of high school students awkwardly staring at each other because none of them want to start the group presentation.
When Yoongi finally sits up a little taller and clears his throat, you throw an intrigued glance at the snow leopard hybrid.
"Hey, Soobin," he begins smoothly, voice relaxed yet assertive. "It's me, Yoongi."
"Oh, hi, Yoongi," Soobin greets rather shyly.
How odd.
Every time you've met and talked with Soobin, the older male seems to be rather professional. Sure, you can tell Soobin is on the introverted side when it comes to his normal persona. But even when you've met him after his work hours and during his lunch break, his normal self still seems confident and carefree.
Yet, whenever the man is in front of anyone from the pack, let alone talking to them over the phone, he's a flustered mess.
"Well, I suppose Y/N wants me to explain to you what happened - but the story is rather simple," Yoongi says with a soft, airy, chuckle. "It was early in the morning and we were all asleep. One moment, I'm hearing seven heartbeats as usual, but then the next moment, I'm suddenly hearing eight, and I knew something was off. That's when I got up to look around and noticed that someone was snooping around in our front yard."
"Wait, heartbeats?" you cock your head to the side in confusion.
"Oh, Beomie does that too," Soobin coos softly. "He says it just relaxes him to tune into our heartbeats every now and then."
"Exactly!" Hoseok chirps happily from where he's sitting next to Yoongi.
"We can explain it more later," Namjoon leans over to whisper to you.
"Sorry for interrupting your story, Yoongi," the lawyer chuckles sheepishly. "So what happened after you saw that person?"
"Well, I woke the boys up and we were all just kind of watching the man for a few minutes. But Joon decided it was best if most of the pack hid in the master bathroom in case he tried breaking in," the snow leopard explains.
"That's when I called Y/N," Hoseok adds. "And then she checked the security camera footage from her laptop and came over after recognizing who it was."
"So then I'm assuming you've noticed a lot more of your mother's people following you around after that?" Soobin hums as he begins to piece everything together.
"Yeah, pretty much," you confirm.
"Has she confronted you about it yet? Or has she ever gone back to investigate the pack's house again?"
"No, she hasn't. I've been checking the security footage every night for any suspicious activity but she hasn't gone back to the pack's house since that day - well other than the times I've visited the pack and one of her men followed me."
"Wait, you knowingly let her men follow you to the pack's house?" Soobin gasps, voice bordering on the edge of a shriek.
"Here we go again," you groan jokingly. "I know it sounds dumb at first because it might seem like I'm leading the danger directly to the pack. But Namjoon and I - actually, I think pretty much all of the pack and I - agree that by coming back regularly, it doesn't leave any room for suspicion compared to if I had cut off all ties with them the moment I found out. Plus, I've definitely limited the number of times I've visited since then so that it doesn't seem too suspicious regarding how often I visit this place. In fact, I plan on giving my mother a call if she decides to have her men follow me here one more time. Third time's the charm, right?"
All four hybrids' ears perk up at the new information. To be quite honest, you had only thought about this last night. But if you want to play the part of being an 'innocent and good coworker', you need to confront your mother first if she decides to follow you to your intern's house one more time.
"Okay, that's good to hear that you have a plan," Soobin responds with a gentle sigh. "So, what do you need me to do for you then?"
"About that," you chuckle awkwardly, shifting your weight around in your seat as you try to give yourself a few seconds to stall. On one hand, you know it's absolutely necessary to take this precautionary step. But on the other hand, you know that it isn't exactly legal and yet, you're still asking Soobin, a lawyer, for this favor. "I might need you to forge some information regarding the ownership of the house the pack is currently living in."
The other end of the line is deadly silent for what seems like an eternity. You bite on the inside of your cheek as you nervously wait for Soobin to give you some sort of response - even if he scolds you for proposing such an outrageous request.
The silence begins to become so unnerving to a point where even Seokjin and Hoseok are fidgeting around in their seats anxiously.
"Okay," Soobin finally responds rather simply.
"Okay?" Yoongi questions with a quirked eyebrow. "Aren't you going to ask why?"
"Soobin-ssi, with all due respect and as much as I appreciate you agreeing so easily, you're a lawyer and you could get into big trouble for doing this. Are you sure you don't need some time to think this over?" Namjoon adds, a hint of worry laced into his tone.
"No, I'm positive and I don't need to ask why," the younger male responds with an honest chuckle. "After working with Mr. Han and now after working with Y/N, I have a good sense of how power-hungry her family is. So, I'm certain that if her mother were to ever become suspicious of the home you guys are living in, or maybe even Namjoon as Y/N's intern, she's going to want to dig up some information. And in case she ever finds the general property information of your current house - which is honestly more public than you might expect - she's going to know something's up when she sees that it's currently under Y/N's name. She'll also probably be able to find out that Y/N's grandfather was the owner before if she dug deep enough."
"Oh, shit," Yoongi murmurs under his breath before nodding once in an approving manner. "Okay, I like this dude."
"Look! Binnie is blushing!" A new teasing voice calls out in the background of Soobin's line.
"Beomgyu!" the lawyer gasps.
"He's probably over the moon now that he has the validation of the pack he is oh-so-intimidated by," another voice snickers.
"Hi, Yeonjun! Hi, Beomgyu," you greet upon realization as to who the voices belong to.
There's a brief pause before Soobin's end of the line is overtaken by a series of loud shuffling sounds and protests from the lawyer himself. Then within a second, all of the noise on his line amplifies and you're guessing that someone wrestled the phone from him to put the call on speaker.
"Hi Y/N! It's nice to finally talk to you. Soobin told us a lot about you and the pack," Yeonjun responds.
"Oh? Is that so? I thought this type of client information was supposed to remain confidential?" you hum in amusement to tease the lawyer.
"It is! I didn't necessarily tell them about your case," Soobin interjects in a rather flustered tone. "I just told them about you as a friend, you know?"
"We know, Soobin," Namjoon chuckles. "Y/N's just teasing."
"Oh! Did you know Binnie told us about the pack's youngest cub? I heard he's quite protective over you, Y/N. Binnie said something about him being very displeased that you wanted to meet me. So I take it Yeonjun and I won't be able to meet you any time soon?" Beomgyu adds.
"That's Jungkook for you," Yoongi snorts.
"That stubborn and possessive brat," Seokjin mutters under his breath with a small shake of his head.
"I'd be more than happy to meet you and Yeonjun! And don't worry about, Kook," you chuckle. "He's always like that."
"Even with his own pack members. He likes to safeguard Y/N from us from time to time," Namjoon informs the bear hybrid on the other end of the line.
"Don't call him a cub, Beomgyu," Soobin scolds the younger male. "Jungkook is older than you. In fact, they all are. You better be nice if you ever meet them. I don't want their first impression of you to be that you're a crackhead."
"So what if I'm younger? No one can beat me at thigh wrestling," the younger male states proudly.
"Okay, anyway," the lawyer interjects suddenly. "Y/N, I'll get those documents ready by the end of today. Call me if you need anything else, okay? Great! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go talk some sense and manners into Beomgyu. Bye! Have a good day!"
You're blinking down at your phone screen in confusion when the line cuts off abruptly. But when Seokjin and Hoseok start snickering, you glance up to meet their happy gazes.
"Soobin's roommates sound like nice people," Namjoon chuckles softly.
"The bear cub reminds me of Tae when he was younger," Yoongi adds with a soft gummy smile.
"That's what I was thinking too!" Seokjin laughs.
"Speaking of Tae, should we go check on the younger three? They've been awfully quiet since we started the call with Soobin," Hoseok points out as his auburn ears swivel around on the top of his head in search of sounds coming from the three.
"They're probably either eavesdropping or napping," Yoongi shrugs.
"I'll go look," you offer, getting up from your seat.
"Okay, then we'll get started on dinner. You're staying the night, right?" Seokjin proposes, looking at you expectantly for your confirmation.
"I did promise you guys a sleepover, didn't I?"
"Technically you said at your apartment," Hoseok teases. "So you still owe us that too."
"Okay, you got me there," you chuckle. "But yes, I'm staying the night, Jin."
"Great," the sugar glider hybrid nods in delight before walking over to you to plant a kiss on the top of your forehead. "Now off you go to search for the cubs and off we go to prepare for dinner. I'll have someone come get you when it's ready."
With a gentle shove, the oldest hybrid is pushing you in the direction of the staircase leading up to the second floor of the house. As you climb up higher, you begin to hear faint giggles coming from behind the closed doors of the master bedroom.
"Guys?"
Suddenly, the giggles cut off which only spikes your curiosity even further. When you reach out for the doorknob to push open the door, you're greeted by the sight of the three youngest hybrids tangled up in fluffy blankets on the king-sized bed. But to your surprise, they have also managed to push in a queen-sized mattress from one of their rooms to connect to the king-sized mattress to create an even larger bed.
"Surprise!" Taehyung calls out happily when he notices your shocked expression. The tiger hybrid rushes over to you to grab your hand before dragging you to join him where he was previously lounging on the bed. "We figured that since you're spending the night, it would be fun for all of us to be in the same room. So of course, we had to make a larger bed to fit all of us."
"I was just thinking we can all have a sleepover downstairs in the living room, but this works too," you laugh happily as Taehyung pushes you back so that you're falling into the fluffy pile of pillows and blankets. "In fact, I like this option much better."
"So how'd the call go?" Jimin asks from where he's currently lying sideways across Jungkook's torso.
"It went well. Soobin said he'll have all the documents ready by the end of the day," you respond with a small smile.
"That's great," the fox hybrid smiles back.
"Oh, and we might be meeting a bear hybrid soon," you add with a giggle knowing that it will elicit some sort of reaction from the unsuspecting black panther hybrid.
"What?" Jungkook calls out rather outrageously. His head shoots up and he stares at you with a gaze mixed with confusion and disbelief. "I thought I said you only need to visit me and not some bear."
"We, Kook," Jimin rolls his eyes. "Y/N said 'we' meaning all of us are meeting the bear hybrid."
"Jimin's right. We're all meeting Beomgyu. In fact, I believe he mentioned something about wanting to have a thigh wrestle with you, Kookie," you smirk.
"Oh, he is so going down," the youngest hybrid responds with a competitive glint in his eyes.
♡ ♡ ♡
Happy Monday, my beautiful Dalgis! As promised, here's some Y/N x Soobin (and Yeonjung & Beomgyu) interaction because it's been a while since we heard from Soobin. I hope you enjoyed it!
Question of the Week: What was your favorite toy growing up?
I have been told that I used to absolutely adore this small kangaroo plushie I had when I was a baby/toddler and I actually still have it to this day, haha. Aside from that, I guess my favorite toy would be the kitchen set that my parents actually bought for my brother. He was a bit too young to understand the point of those toys when they first bought them for him, but I loved playing chef and 'making meals' for my family.
After reading through last week's update to look for any typos I had made, I realized I had completely forgotten to update you guys on my "confusing the locals" Instagram story post! My apologies!
Just in case any of you need a refresher, I posted a "bf material" type of picture of Jake (Enhypen) to my Instagram story to see if any of my locals would confuse him as my actual boyfriend. The picture actually hid his face pretty well because he was wearing a mask, and unless my followers are Engenes/know about Enhypen and/or they've been to this exact spot the picture was taken, I doubt they could tell it was an idol since Jake was on a trail by the Han River in this pic.
Needless to say, I kinda expected the reactions I got. Most of the responses were from my close friends and a lot of them were saying things like, "Omg is that your bf? 👀" or "Congrats!" 😂😂
Also, how are we feeling after the VMAs? Am I surprised? No, not at all. But you bet I'm beyond frustrated. There's literally no logical explanation (other than xenophobia!) regarding why Harry Styles won Best Choreography with Treat People with Kindness instead of BTS. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Harry Styles and I love his music. But western choreography can't even begin to compare with K-pop choreography! Also, I'm kinda disappointed about Song of the Year and Best Pop. On one hand, I understand that the winners of those categories were pretty big hits in the U.S. but there's no denying that Dynamite and Butter outperformed both Driver's License and Peaches!
Anyways, I hope you're all staying safe, happy, and healthy! I love you all so much 💖💖
Until next Monday,
Dalgi Jungoo 🍓