Rae started out with a completely new project, copying both tracks into it. Once she did that, she began adjusting the layers, keeping the rough vocals as they were and adjusting according to the vocals. Rae wanted to sample something fun, but didn't know how to get it. She'd have to take down her wall temporarily to ask him, but that meant the others would notice. Mentally she prepared herself and then took down the wall.
Sunshine, I have a question.
Princess!
Baby! I missed you!
Where were you beautiful?!
Aish - you three be quiet! She asked Hosek a question!
Yes, cutie?
I need a sample. I don't know what, but something fun.
HYBE's sample library is bookmarked on the desktop. Use whatever you want.
Thank you sunshine!
With that, she turned off the connections again so she could concentrate and got back to work. Rae knew the maknae's especially would be upset and sad and that little bit of knowledge hurt her a little bit, but she had to maintain some sense of sanity - especially since right now she needed to concentrate on this. Hobi was trusting her to make the title track for his first mixtape, she needed to put her all in to it.
Before she knew it, an hour and a half had gone by. Hobi was still not back yet, but she needed a break to reset her brain. She checked her schedule for the next day and saw another session with Hobi in the later afternoon, and a completely clear morning. She had one other meeting on her list tomorrow titled 'TxT Brainstorming Session', but not until 1:00, which left her three hours of nothing. Rae remembered Bang PD saying to email Lia to reserve a studio space, so she asked Lia if she could snag her one for the morning until her meetings started to work on some independent stuff.
"I'm back, cutie! And I managed to drag the Genius out of his cave for a visit!" Hobi said with a smile. Rae turned around and saw Hobi and Yoongi piling into the studio.
"You're really driving the kids crazy, pretty girl." Yoongi said to her, pressing a kiss to her lips before turning around and plopping himself onto the couch. Hobi took his spot back in his chair. "Anyway, I'm here to listen to Hope World."
"Oh - Sunshine you're gonna love the sample! I thought of it from the art!" Rae was practically jumping in her seat as she turned around to the computers again, playing the project. The new project played through the speakers with Hobi's rough vocals on top as all three bopped their heads to the beat of the music.
"Well, Producer SUGA, what do you think?" Hobi asked, turning to face Yoongi on the couch. Rae did the same, making sure to take her notes out again and saw Yoongi blush ever so slightly, making her giggle. He hated all the attention on himself, obviously.
"I think you should do a proper vocal layer and then submit it for review tomorrow." Yoongi said. Rae paused her typing and looked back up at him.
"You think so? I only did it really today..."
"Just because you did it today doesn't mean it's not ready. Pretty girl, you had the advantage with this song of already having two projects, you just needed to re-arrange the composition to suit it more. I think it's ready." he said to her.
"You just want her back for yourself." Hobi said to his soulmate, lightly pushing him. Rae let out a laugh as Yoongi grunted, face still red.
"That too, we do have a song to finish after all. By the way pretty girl, do you have time tomorrow?" he asked, pulling his phone out. She wasn't given the chance to respond before he spoke up again. "Pretty girl, you have 24/7 access to Genius Lab, you don't need another studio. I'll tell Lia to cancel it, work in there tomorrow morning. I'll be in around noon and we can do something then."
"Yoon..." Rae whined. This was partially why she was hesitant to take this opportunity - she didn't want them treating her differently. She already felt different because she had access to studios that no one else really had, especially to Genius Lab. She hated feeling different just because of who she knew - it made her feel uncomfortable and like she was taking advantage of them. Her mind was starting to whir out of control all at once, un-noticed by the two soulmates she was with.
"Aw cutie, you're adorable when you whine."
"Don't 'Yoon' me, pretty girl. You won't win." Yoongi said with a sense of finality. Rae grumbled as she stopped herself from jumping hearing a voice in her head. She didn't know she needed to hear Namjoon's voice, or how she was hearing him to begin with. But when she heard him come through, she knew that she needed him to get to her somehow.
Rae? Are you okay love?
Joon, I need you.
I'm coming to get you.
Hobi and Yoongi were looking at their youngest soulmate closely. While she looked fine on the outside, there was definitely something going on inside her head. And with her bonds closed off still from working, they didn't know what it was. Something must have triggered her, but neither of them had a clue. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Hobi - at the same moment that Namjoon showed up. When he saw Namjoon enter the room, he started to pack up Rae's things.
"Namjoon?" Yoongi asked, with a raised brow.
"I'm taking her until it's time to go. Taehyung and Jimin will bring her home." Namjoon left no room for arguing as he used his leader voice, which even his hyung's knew not to mess with. Hobi gave Rae her bag as Namjoon stood her up, taking her hand and leading her to his studio. Once inside, he locked the door behind them and quickly took off her bag and placed it next to his on the ground. When he was done with that, he scooped up Rae in his arms and held her on the couch.
"I... I don't..." she stammered. Namjoon shushed her quiet, like a baby, as she buried her head in him for comfort.
"It's okay. Sometimes, our bonds will reach out to another person when you need them. When Jimin was going through a tough time on the Wings tour, he tried to hide it from us. One night, Jin woke up and frantically said we had to find him. We found him in his bathroom on the floor crying."
"So my bond... reached out to yours?" Rae asked, letting out a content sigh as Namjoon started to gently pet the top of her head. He let out an affirmative hum as the two of them went quiet. Slowly, she felt herself start to clam down. "I'm sorry that you had to come get me."
"Don't apologize. We've all had panic attacks, what matters is that you're okay now. You don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to." he said, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
"I want to tell you all... But I want to do it with everyone, and I was gonna do it tonight..." she started, before Namjoon stopped her.
"Let yourself enjoy dinner, love. We can all talk tomorrow, okay?" he proposed. Rae nodded as there was a knock on the door, prompting Namjoon to get up. Taehyung and Jimin stood in the doorway, eyes wide with concern. "I'm going to have a talk with the others. Your TaeTae and Jiminie are going to take you home, okay? They'll take good care of you until they have to leave." Rae let out a nod as Namjoon handed Jimin her bag and she stood up.
"Lets get you home, princess." Taehyung held his hand out for her to take and she gladly accepted, Jimin tailing closely from behind. Rae had never seen the two be more serious in her life than she saw them right now. Whatever Namjoon had sent over the bond, they were listening. She also knew there had to be a reason why Namjoon picked both Taehyung and Jimin to bring her home. Another pang of guilt flushed through her for making Namjoon worry and work overtime as the leader. Jimin gave her a kiss on the cheek and Taehyung squeezed her hand gently - Namjoon was definitely in their heads.
"We have a surprise for you in TaeTae's car." Jimin said from behind her.
"A surprise?" she asked as they approached the vehicle. When Jimin opened the passenger seat, Rae let out a satisfied squeal at the sight of her favorite coffee milk tea in the cup holder, making the two men laugh.
"We were going to get you the waffle too, but Jin said we shouldn't so close to dinner." Taehyung said.
"I love it, thank you." she said to them as she hopped in the car. The drive from HYBE to her apartment went by quickly as she sipped on her boba. The two boys lead her up and inside. She took a look at the time and saw there was still plenty of time before she had to think about getting ready. "Can we go cuddle in my room?"
"Of course, beautiful. TaeTae is the best cuddler." Jimin said with a smile. Jimin scooped her up and followed Taehyung into Rae's room, setting her down in the middle of the bed. He allowed Taehyung to wrap his arms around her tightly and bring her to his chest, while Jimin rested her head on his chest as he held the both of them. "If Hobi was here, he'd be taking a picture."
"The infamous Hope Film." Rae let out with a giggle as Jimin started to do the same petting motions Namjoon was earlier.
"I knew Hobi and his sister bought you a lot of clothes.... but wow." Taehyung stated, looking into Rae's closet. "Oh! Can Jiminie and I pick out your outfit for dinner?" he asked.
"Sure." Rae said with a giggle.
"How about you go shower and we'll have it all complete by the time you get out?" Jimin proposed. With a nod, Rae got up and headed into her bathroom. She took her shower, washing her hair and scrubbing her body and then exited after drying her hair, wrapping a towel tightly around herself. "Beauti - whoa. Hello sexy." Jimin stood in the doorway to her bedroom and she heard a scramble of steps, Taehyung appearing behind him. Rae went red as Jimin approached with a devilish grin, placing a gentle hand on her jawline. "Don't act all shy now, beautiful."
Rae felt Taehyung press against her back, holding his hands on her hips gently as he placed delicate kisses on her shoulder. She thanked god that she still had all her bonds turned off as Jimin slotted his lips against hers, grinding his erection against her core. This was heaven, she thought. Her deepest fantasies included being between multiple members and she was actually living it. Jimin put a hand over one of her breasts and squeezed, causing Rae to squirm against Taehyung's hardened crotch and arch into him. He let out a moan and bucked into her backside, causing Rae to whip her hand behind her and squeeze him through his sweats. Oh my fucking god he's practically got a third leg -
You guys are a bunch of horny teenagers. There isn't time to fuck!
You're just jealous, hyung.
You little -
"As much as I hate to say this, he's kind of right." Rae admitted, breaking Jimin's kiss. It was nearing 6:30 and the two boys still had to get back to their dorm to change up. They must have been so into it that they lost control - Rae knew that it was probably her fault.
"Tae's third leg is nothing compared to Namjoon's." Jimin said back to her with a smirk. She went to swat at him but he stepped away just in time, dragging Taehyung with him. The both of them stood at the door and adjusted themselves before bidding her goodbye. In an instant, Rae picked up her phone and dialed Jade on a video call.
"Do you need my fashion advice once more?" Jade asked with a hair flip. Rae reinforced her mental wall again before she spoke, going into her bedroom to change. Rae shook her head quickly.
"Dude, Kim Taehyung has a fucking third leg and so does Park Jimin!" Rae said, placing her phone out of view so she could get changed. She rolled her eyes at the matching bra and panty set that the boys had picked out for her and slid them on.
"OH MY GOD DID YOU FUCK THEM?!" Jade screeched so loud that she practically heard her from two floors up.
"God, I wish. We had to get ready to go so they left." Rae explained more, now looking at the outfit itself. They had picked out a blush pink halter top and a white pleated skirt. The top had Jimin written all over it and the bottom was a Taehyung choice.
"Please don't tell me you blue-balled them." Jade said as Rae came back into view, now dressed in the outfit that they had picked for her.
"Technically, it wasn't me who blue-balled them. Yoongi butted in. But get this - Jimin said that Namjoon is bigger than Tae!" Rae said, grabbing her phone and putting it on the ground as she now sat on the floor to do her make up.
"Holy fucking shit, I knew he packed!" Jade let out.
"Okay, I do not need to hear this conversation! I am making myself known!" Rae let out a yell at the sound of her brothers voice. Jade started laughing from the other end of the phone as Rae picked up a throw pillow from the floor and chucked it at him. She must have broke her wall, again, as Jungkook popped into her head.
Baby?! What's wrong?!
Christopher Bang!
Oh okay, nothing serious then. You gave us a heart attack.
"Thats what you get for using your key to get in, shit head!" she spat at him. He rolled his eyes at her and made himself comfortable on the end of her bed while Rae finished her makeup.
"Well, on that note I will let you go. By the way, the outfit is on point." Jade said through the phone.
"Thank Taehyung and Jimin. They picked it." Rae said back, hanging up the call. She finished putting her makeup on completely and stood up, sliding on the nude pumps that they had picked out. They even had found a matching purse - Gucci, so she had a feeling this was a Taehyung pick.
"Wow, look at you. Decked out in designer!" Chris said with a chuckle. It was odd to see his sister in anything designer at all, and his soulmates were enjoying it too.
"Quiet." she muttered.
"No, this is good! Let them spoil you, you deserve it! Hey, are you free Thursday for dinner with us?" he asked her.
"Yeah, right now I am, unless something comes up." she finished packing up her bag and walked out of her bedroom.
"Good, pencil the Stray Kids in. You're having dinner with us." he said back to her. With that, the two of them left Rae's apartment and headed to dinner. She could tell that Jin had picked the place, because as they drove they were back in the rich part of the city. Rae tried to hide her nerves as the GPS told them they were getting closer.
"I think tomorrow I'm gonna tell them everything that happened with dad. Earlier I had a panic attack, and Namjoon had to come get me. Like I had my bonds quiet so I could work and he could feel it." she said to him.
"That's good! You never talk about that, I'm proud of you." he said to her. Rae let out a soft hum as they parked at the restaurant. She saw both Taehyung's car and Yoongi's car in the lot already and she took a deep breath in. "Hey, relax. It's gonna be fine!"
"Easy for you to say." she muttered. The two siblings walked side by side up to the hostess. "Hi, we have a reservation with Kim Seokjin?"
"Of course, follow me right this way." she said to them. They walked towards the back and through people who were more rich than she'd ever be towards a private room. It was a private hibachi room where they cooked it right in front of you. The boys were all standing around the room as Rae and Chris entered, Jungkook being the one to break the ice.
"Bang Chan, my man!" Rae let out a laugh as she saw Jin let out a sigh. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Yoongi standing awkwardly next to Hobi. She assumed they must have had a talk with Namjoon, and he had figured out what caused her panic attack earlier and now felt bad.
"Don't you 'my man' me, you've been kissing my sister since last week!" Rae stopped herself from choking on air and immediately swat at him, causing him to flinch.
"Christopher!"
"I'm just joking!" Chris defended himself, causing Jungkook to laugh.
"Cough up the won, loser!" Jungkook said to him. Chris sighed as he dug in his pockets and put the won into Jungkook's awaiting hand.
"Ignoring that you two made a bet... guys, this is my older brother, Christopher Bang. He's also lowkey a major fanboy." Rae said, adding a jab at the end. Payback, asshole.
"I deserved that. Just call me Chris, it's good to meet you guys." he said, going around the room and shaking everyone's hand, skipping over Jungkook.
"It's good too officially meet you, Chris. Have a seat, I think they're gonna come around for drinks in a minute." Namjoon said. The table had three sides to it, with the grill in the middle and an opening at the end for the chef. Rae took an end, with her brother next to her being the middle seat and Jungkook on the other side of him.
"Yoongi, sit here?" Rae asked him, motioning to the end seat on the opposite side of her. He let out a nod and sat down, Jimin sitting next to him and Hobi on the other side. Taehyung, Jin, and Namjoon completed the opposite side. Everyone ordered drinks and took a moment to decide what they wanted before conversation picked back up. Yoongi had reached for Rae's hand under the table to hold while Hobi and Namjoon asked Chris about his latest music, including the re-issue of one of their albums.
"Yeah, we have a lot of promotion after the re-issue, but I was thinking after that since we have a little bit of a break of doing a big Australia trip. Felix hasn't been back since he left for Seoul, I haven't been back since our mom died, and the guys have never been." Chris said, sipping on his drink after ordering the food. They were now waiting on the chef to start cooking it for them on the grill in front of them.
"Aunty is going to eat them up, she'll be thrilled." Rae commented.
"She'd be even more thrilled if you came, too. And brought them with you. Incase you haven't figured it out, this is my extended invitation for everyone to come to Australia." Chris said to everyone.
"Hell yeah, I wanna go to Australia!" Jimin said.
"What dates are you thinking?" Namjoon asked.
"The last week of November into December. Our mom's birthday is December 2nd." Chris said. Rae felt her heart skip a beat - she hadn't been back to Australia since she had left her father and moved back to Seoul with her brother. And she had never been back to see her mother's grave since then. Namjoon looked like he was about to speak, when Yoongi cut him off.
"Sign us all up, we'll go." he said. The rapper wasn't leaving it up for arguments and there was going to be some pushback from Jin and Namjoon, who mentally sorted it out and decided not to speak on it.
Namjoon, we should really tell him that we need to think about this first.
Look at how happy she is, Jin.
"Really? All of us can go? Won't that be difficult?" she asked, turning to Yoongi.
"I'll talk to our managers myself and tell them we're going." Yoongi said to her, squeezing her hand.
"It will be so much fun! It's going to be summertime and it's always so warm. Chris, can we go to the beach?!" Rae was practically beamed and radiating joy. All seven of her soulmates knew that they'd be doing whatever it takes to make sure that they were all present on this trip.
"Of course, who else is gonna show Jisung how you're supposed to surf and not wipe out?" her brother said back to her.
"You know how to surf, baby?" Jungkook asked excitedly.
"It's practically a sin in Australia if you don't." Rae joked. The rest of the dinner went by in a breeze as the chef came out and cooked their food right in front of them. At the end of dinner, Rae got up to go to the bathroom, leaving all of the boys alone.
"I've never seen her happier, truly." Chris said as everyone was getting ready to head out. "It hasn't been easy for her, and it's partially my fault I guess. She had to leave all her friends behind when she was little for me, and then our mom got sick... I worry about her so much. Thank you for making her happy."
"Your sister is incredible, Chris. We'll never stop making her happy." Jin said to him. Rae listened outside the door with a small smile on her face and a warm feeling in her heart, not knowing how she got so lucky.
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big brother chris finally meets bts!!! and a big fun plot thing that i'm excited to write!!! (i havent hit that point yet, but still its fun!) skz and bts to australia!
thank you for the continued support!!!