====================
According to International Soulmate Research Institute, the new generation Multiples establish soul bounds in easier way compared to their older counterparts.
====================
Namjoon works best at night. The gears on his head turns more with its silence. He is not supposed to work on finishing on a track since they are on a break but he has to. Not when it is needed to be submitted before he can do what he wants... what they all want.
His head bops with the beat on his wireless headset as he swivels facing the door of their home studio. He stops as he looks over their Daun, standing, tenderly smiling at him.
"Coffee? I can make you one." Her voice is a whispering kiss to his soul, enough to make his body alive.
"I don't think I need it anymore." He jokingly says but she doesn't seem to catch his meaning at all. He only scratches his head and gestures for her to step inside and close the door.
"Where should I sit?" She curiously says as she notices Yoongi sleeping soundly at the sofa. His big frame is awkwardly lying on it. Namjoon can see the confusion and worry on her face. Perhaps thinking why would the man choose to sleep there.
He almost forgot that his hyung is with him. He just passed out from tiredness from finishing his collab at the company. He asks for him to stay as somehow, the sound proofing of the studio muffles a bit of his Soul hear. It's not that he doesn't want to listen to her inner rumblings, but he is so distracted with it that he would sometimes chortles in awkward moments. His hyung claimed that listening to her is so amusing that sometimes he would miss sleep just to listen. However, he badly needs it. His eye bags have gone darker that he would look sick. His hyung doesn't want anyone to worry on him, especially not their Daun.
He gingerly smiles and taps his lap. "Here." He was only joking of course... or not. He really likes the great comfort of her warmth as it seeped through his body when they cuddled at his spot once. Since there are seven of them, it has been difficult to be with her alone. He wants to feel it again.
Surprisingly, Daun bashfully slowly walks towards him. A few steps and she is already seated on his lap.
It doesn't escape how sluggish she is. He can see how she looks so vulnerable as she sits on his lap, encircles her arms around him, and places her cheeks against the nook of his neck. She looks a lot like the younger Jungkook who needs his hug for energy.
The connection of their souls as they hug zaps throughout his body, yet he dismisses it as he is more baffled with the way she behaves.
"Is there something wrong?" He whispers as he lifts her legs to position her comfortably. Her legs are over the armrest and her feet are hanging by the side. He wraps his arms around her to secure her to himself.
It's adorable how her petit body perfectly fits against him. Now minus with all those puffy padded winter coats, he realizes how adorable she is cuddled to him. Her soft small frame in comparison to his muscled body. He would coo if not how meek she is at this moment.
"Where is Taehyung anyway?" He thought out loud.
"He sleeps so deeply. Jiminie and him are cuddling." He hears he mumble against his chest.
"He is supposed to be with you." He thoughtlessly says.
"I am not a baby." She adorably groans.
"You are a baby." He chuckles. "Our baby love."
"You don't have to look for me always." She whines.
"No..." He nods. His free hand caresses her hair. "We don't have to... " He feels guilty of how they have been behaving. He admits that somehow, for someone who used to be alone would feel suffocated with their arrangements. "Should we stop?" He continues.
"No... I like it like this." She whispers as she adjusts herself and hugs him a bit tighter.
There is definitely something wrong. His mind moans with so much worry. She behaves unusually, or it's just a new side to her that he didn't see yet. She is clingy tonight. The way she hugs him feels like a non-verbal plea to him. A plea of something he wants to know.
"Headache?" He inquires. His voice worried over the revelation that she has been feeling the adverse effects of the withdrawal on suppressants. The eldest had supplied the facts to them. He knows that there are possibilities for it, but since they could not see it to her, he thought she does not feel it at all. They were just so complacent. Yoongi somehow had suspected about it, pointing out the times that she would space out and excuse herself from them for a needed nap. It seems that their soulmate is so good at hiding it from them even from Yoongi with his soul hear or Jin with his soul feel or they just failed to notice her. They really need to be more mindful.
He is more baffled with how she meekly shakes her head. He swears he hears her sniffing.
He holds her by her shoulders and pushes her a little. He then gingerly cups her cheeks, peering through her down casted-eyes. Now that he can see her much clearer, he can't mistake the moist and redness of her eyes. She seemed to have cried or something.
"Baby... Tell me what's wrong?" His voice is soothing.
She bits her lips and nods. "I was in a pantry." She starts.
"Yoongi hyung told me." Jin was so sad to reiterates it himself. The eldest still blames himself for what happened. Jin might have covered his distress on it through jokes but everyone can definitely tell how he feels about it. After all, nothing can be hidden among the seven of them.
"No..." She begins to fiddle on his hair at the back of his head. "I was ten. The house was so old. It was scary."
His brows furrow in confusion. 'What does she mean by it?'
"A dream." She clarifies.
"You were having a dream." He nods, finally understanding her meaning. He cups his cheeks once again, caressing her puffed cheeks.
"Actually, it's more like a memory."
"Memory?... Do you want to talk about it?" He kindly asks. His heart aches with the assumption of the memory as part of her trauma. He wants her to talk it out. He wants her to confide on him more. He wants to know yet he doesn't want to reawaken the hurt and wounds of her past.
Her lips open and closes again. Her cherry lips has been swollen from her nervous biting. "You see... papa was not always like that. He was just drunk." She mumbles.
"Why? What did he do? Why were you in the scary pantry?" He feels he knows, yet he still asks.
"It was my birthday. I thought he was not there. I thought he was here... in Korea for a business trip. I thought it was okay to celebrate it. I had a cake and the maids brought some of their children for the occasion..."
**********
"Come on play the piano!" One of the children encouraged. And with grateful heart she happily sat on the piano and played a slow and beautiful rendition of happy birthday.
Her heart burst with so much glee. She could see the admiration from the children younger than her. The sparkle in their eyes are addicting. How wonderful if she always sees such joy.
**********
"We sang. We laughed. We were happy. It was a great day. But... "
"But?" Namjoon asks as the silence seems to prolong.
**********
The hinges of the door rattled as someone harshly opened it wide. Her papa was there, drank and furious. Guilt stricken, knowing how their master didn't want any celebration for her birthday, the maids excused and guided the frightened children away.
Daun, was left alone.
He was yelling profanities. He was cursing her, then dragging her towards the pantry. A place where the older maids had said that a former miss was seen hanging on her death. The place was so scary.
"Papa! Let me out! Please let me out!" She was crying so hard. Her entire body shivers with great fright. She didn't want to be in the place.
**********
"I never knew it happened." She softly says.
"Love." Namjoon wipes away the tears running down her cheeks.
He doesn't know what to feel. He feels like the magma inside him is boiling and threatening to burst out. He is angry. He is angry for all the hurt that she had been through. He is furious for the man that had cause her so much trauma. He doesn't care how important that man is in her life. However, this moment is not about what he feels. This is all about their Daun. He can only suppress the ugly feeling inside him.
"That time I woke up with bandages on my hands. I forgot what really happened. Now... I can recall it all."
Namjoon can practically hear his heart shatters with the hurt in her eyes. He knows that what happened was only a few of the many things that she bottles inside.
What should he say about it? He had been privileged growing up with his supportive parents. Though there was a time that they had disagreed on his chosen path, but there was never an abuse. His parents were just worried with the future that he decided on his own. The same with the six of his members who are his sworn brothers.
He can only say, "Baby." as he pulls her into a tight embrace. He feels her body quakes as she sadly sobs. Like a child, he swivels the chair, as if mimicking a swing, to make her calm.
Namjoon looks ahead and sees Yoongi moves to sit on the couch. He looks somber and contemplative. Namjoon can tell that he has been listening with everything.
Their eyes meet and Namjoon can only nod as if telling his hyung that he got her... that everything would be okay.
"Thank you." He hears her mumbles a while later. "Thank you for listening." She repeats as she wipes her tears with her hands.
"You can always talk to me." He sincerely says. "Are you okay now?"
She shakes her head. "I don't think I'll ever be." She admits.
"What are you going to do now?" He wants to know. He wants her to unshackle and unbind herself from the ugly weights that's dragging her inside. He wants her to find the solution on her own or perhaps ask them to help her find the key of letting go.
"I... I don't know."
"You can always tell us anything." He soothes.
"Aren't you ashamed of me?" She curiously asks. He can see the fear on her eyes. Though it's painful for him, but he admits that she has every right to be cautious for her own sake. She had been hurt all through her life. They are soulmates but still, they are only humans and has the potential to hurt her. Soulmates are in fact more lethal. Once soulmates' trust is breached and torn, it can cause soul tear and death. He could only give is an assurance that the seven of them, especially him, would never cause her any pain. They had sworn on it even before knowing her identity.
"We are never ashamed of you." He answers truthfully. They are rather proud of her. "What you have experienced is a part of you. It has shaped you of what you are."
"Yeah... an embarrassing me who doesn't know how to keep a promise... even a word." She frustratingly says.
"No. You are strong. You are brave. You are sensible. You are generous. You are true to yourself..."
"But I am never brave nor strong. I am weak." She whines as she interrupts Namjoon's praises.
"I don't think so. Brave and strong people know how to stand on their principles. You were able to live alone even when you were seventeen. You were brave to enter the world of artists and made a name of your own. You are able to manage all these times."
"H-how?" Her brows furrow.
"Love, Daun, I did my research on you." He softly says, hoping it doesn't come out as stalking. The seven of them are just curious of her. "I know some things about you. However, there are still things that I am yet to learn. I hope you'll gonna tell us all someday... especially what's in your heart. What bothers you? What makes you cry? Please... if you think you are weak. Then use us as your strength." He kindly says.
Silence.
He observes how her eyes widen in surprise and realization, then how she blinks with how he says the words to her. He watches how she bits her lips as she tries hard not to shed more tears.
The silence of the room as she somehow internalizes what he had said shutters with her sigh of relief.
"Ohhh... Namjoonie... I don't know what to say." She melts into his chest, hugging him so tightly, afraid to let go.
"Namjoonie is right Daun-ah." Yoongi's voice is gentle and sure.
Daun's head snaps towards his hyung on the couch. "You are awake. You were listening?"
"I can't help it." Yoongi is never letting go of his gaze to her eyes as he stands and strides towards her. "If it's you... I am always all ears." His solemnly smiles towards her, making sure to show how serious he is. It's as if reminding her of something that she already knows.
'Soul hear. She knows it already.' Namjoon deduces. He hopes that their Yoongi hyung had already told her how precious she is for them.
"You are all generous and gentle." She says. "How fortunate I am to have you." She whispers, as if the statement is only meant to herself. Nonetheless, the two of them hear it clearly.
"We are more fortunate." Namjoon says as he hugs her more to himself.
She blushes and hides again to his chest.
Yoongi grins.
"We are more fortunate." He murmurs on her ears.