Waking up in Changbin's arms was utter bliss. His sweet pouty lips were slightly parted, and once again, you couldn't help but be in awe of his beauty. You couldn't believe how lucky you had been with him, with all the boys, with life, or this existence or whatever it was. You would've counted yourself lucky if you had simply been able to live in the same timeline as them, but having them as your friends and lovers was more than you could've ever wished for. Even though you knew you had been destined to be with them. Even though you knew you were a Goddess, and they were Gods, and you had picked them beforehand, it still felt like a blessing that you were forever thankful for.
You put your hand on his cheek, your thumb caressing his soft skin, and Changbin stirred. He opened his eyes, revealing their magical brownish-red colour. A soft smile appeared on his lips as he noticed you were awake' too and stroking his face.
'Good morning, my love,' he whispered softly. You smiled at his words.
'Good morning,' you responded. Changbin moved his hand to cup yours for a moment, closing his eyes and savouring the feeling of you touching him. Softly he took hold of your hand and moved it from his skin, guiding it towards his lips to kiss the back of your hand.
'Did you sleep well?' he asked you as he moved your hand to place it back on his cheek again.
'Very,' you answered, 'You?'
'Better than ever before,' he said, grinning peacefully. He pulled you in close for a moment, and you nestled your face into his chest, taking in the warm, homey smell of him.
'You were amazing last night,' he said after a moment of silence, holding you close. You could feel yourself blush but knew he couldn't see.
'You were amazing,' you said shyly, prodding his chest with your finger, and he chuckled. You could hear the rumbling in his chest.
You stayed nestled in his arms for a little longer. Besides sex and kissing, having the guys hold you closely was the best feeling in the world. You felt safe and relaxed like you belonged there. Which, in a way, however crazy the thought, you apparently did.
'Binnie?' You said after what could've been a few minutes or hours. Changbin grumbled in response to let you know he had heard you. 'What time is it?' you asked.
'Hmm,' Changbin sounded. Without letting go of you, he scooted over to the side of the bed, where both of your phones sat on the nightstand. You could feel him reaching over you to pick one of the phones up and check for the time.
'Time for breakfast,' Changbin groaned. You could feel him putting the phone back on the nightstand before he let go of you to stretch himself with a yawn. 'Sorry babydoll, can't skip the most important meal of the day,' he said, finding your eyes and giving your cheek a playful pinch, which made you giggle.
'Actually, I'm pretty hungry too,' you admitted. Changbin arched a brow playfully.
'Really? Are you saying you're dumping me for food? Don't you wanna cuddle some more?' he said with a pouty face and an aegyo voice. You gave him a playful indignant look.
'But you just said-,' you sputtered indignantly. Before you could finish your sentence, he rolled you over, pushing you softly on your back as he hovered over you.
'I'm kidding,' he chuckled, placing a soft peck on your forehead. You giggled once more, and Changbin rolled over to sit up at the edge of the bed. You got up to sit next to him.
'Want me to get some clothes from your room?' Changbin offered as he started putting his socks on. You shook your head quickly.
'You know I much rather steal your clothes,' you said playfully, but you meant it. Changbin grinned widely. Now and then, the boys would complain about how much you always stole their favourite clothing items, but you knew secretly they all loved it. Even Hyunjin, who often nagged you about it, somehow seemed to place his (and your) favourite shirt always at the top of the pile of clean clothes, making it oh so easy for you to find. However, you had seen the looks on their faces whenever you wore something of theirs. A mixture of pride and amusement would cross their faces before they would quickly roll their eyes and complain about how they had wanted to wear that specific item today, and they had been looking for it for ages.
Changbin rummaged through his closet and handed you a pair of clean joggers and a sweater. He already provided you with a clean pair of boxers yesterday after showering, and although big, they fit you comfortably enough not to have to get new ones from your own room. Changbin got dressed as well, and even though you had seen a lot of him last night already, you could still not keep your eyes off him.
'Like what you see?' he said boldly, but the light pink shade on his cheeks didn't escape your notice.
'Always,' you said, getting up and walking over to him. You grabbed his upper arm, and he flexed his muscle. Even with two hands, you probably wouldn't be able to fit around it. You looked at him in awe.
'So strong,' you muttered, more to yourself than to him, as you used your other hand to gently squeeze his other upper arm. Changbin's cheek flushed even darker, but he looked incredibly proud and pleased with himself. As he should, in your humble opinion.
Changbin was holding your hand when the two of you arrived downstairs. You walked into the breakfast lounge to find all the others already sitting at the table. And with all the others, you did mean all the others. It was almost as if yesterday night's (or more like this morning's) get-together had never finished, and the boys simply had moved location. The two groups were scattered around the table, the members mixed up and talking with each other. The only reason you were sure they had stopped and gone back for at least a few hours of sleep was that they were all wearing something different. Hyunjin looked like he was still half asleep, and Jungkook's hair was such a mess it was obvious he hadn't bothered to brush it yet.
'Good morning,' Changbin said cheerfully as the two of you met the group. The both of you were met with kind greetings.
'Hey! No hogging!' Minho said teasingly when he noticed the two of you holding hands.
'Yeah, dude, no hogging,' Han went along playfully.
Changbin pulled a face but let go of your hand.
'Do I get a say in this?' you asked with a chuckle.
'Definitely not,' Han said, shaking his head and pulling out the empty chair beside him. You tutted at him but still went to sit next to him.
You looked around the table. Everyone was already eating and talking. Changbin went to sit next to Chan, who, to your happy surprise, was talking with Namjoon. The fact that you had come in holding Changbin's hand seemed to surprise no one. Not even the other group had batted an eye at it. Not even when Minho had said something about it. Did they know?
For a moment, you felt slightly awkward about it, the idea of the other group knowing the relationship you had with your boys. But you decided to shake it off. There was no use in lingering on it; besides, they either did not care or did not mind - or both.
'Slept well?' Lady asked you. She was seated opposite you and, unlike most of the others, was already neatly dressed.
'Erm, yeah, I did,' you said, blushing slightly. 'You?'
'Bit short, but I'll survive,' Lady chuckled. Seeing her here suddenly made you remember a question you had had since earlier, which you had forgotten to ask her before.
'Lady, I have another question,' you began. She smiled at you and nodded.
'Shoot away,' she said, taking a sip of her coffee.
'Well, when I, erm, arrived here on earth, I couldn't remember anything about, you know, before. Is it always like that?' you said, feeling a bit stupid for some reason. Lady nodded as she drank her coffee, and her answer made you feel slightly less stupid instantly. 'Oh, okay. But why do we forget? Why don't we remember who or what we are? I mean, the guys do know when they arrive, why not us?' you said, feeling almost like it was unfair. Lady put her cup down.
'That is a great question,' she said, smiling. 'And it's also one I do not have an answer to.'
Her response made you feel slightly stunned.
'I might know a lot, but I certainly don't know everything either,' Lady chuckled, seeing your stunned face. 'I mean, I have theories, but I don't know whether any of them are true, of course,'
'What are your theories then?' you said eagerly.
'Well, one of them is that we kinda need to figure it out for ourselves,' Lady said thoughtfully. 'Like, our jobs as Goddesses are pretty intense,'
Minho made a sniffing sound, and you looked at him. He quickly straightened his face and looked away from you, but you had seen it. You kicked him under the table, and when he looked at you, annoyed, you returned his gaze with the same look.
'Anyway,' Lady said, clearly not missing the situation and the other side of the table, but there was still a small smile around the corners of her lips, 'I think it's necessary for us to do some self-discovery before we can guide them properly. Like getting some experience and understanding what it's like to be human and how the world works before we take care of others,'
You nodded slowly, thinking about it.
'However,' she followed up, 'Your story kind of debunks that theory, I think,' she admitted.
'Why?' you said with a frown.
'Well, all the other Goddesses I've met took quite a while before they remembered, and then it took them another while to find their Gods. But you, you found them instantly, and they immediately took you in, even though they didn't know you or what you were,' Lady said, frowning slightly. 'It's the first time I've heard about it. And the fact that it took you about what? Three, four years to figure everything out? That's the fastest anyone's ever done it, as far as I know,' Lady said.
'She's a smarty pants,' Han said, putting his hand around your shoulder and smiling proudly.
'But I didn't figure it out,' you said, now also frowning. 'I mean, I kinda figured out they were Gods by accident, but I never really understood what I was until I met you,' you said.
'True, and another hole in my theory,' Lady admitted. 'As I said before, all other Goddesses I've ever met figured out they were a Goddess before they recognised their Gods,'
You felt slightly uncomfortable, knowing that your journey hadn't been the way it should have supposed to be.
'It does, however, make sense with my other theory,' Lady said suddenly. You looked up at her.
'You might remember how painful it was to cross over,' Lady spoke. A sudden memory crashed through your brain and made you cringe slightly. Minho and Han instantly looked at you, not missing your discomfort. You nodded, unable to stop your grimace. 'Well, it could be something like a trauma response made by our human bodies,' she suggested. 'Our human bodies can't take such a force, and the trauma of it might cause us to forget for a while, like some sort of protection maybe.'
'That could make sense,' you said thoughtfully.
'Either way, I'm not sure if we'll ever know the answer. There are still questions I've never found the answers to. We might be Goddesses, but we can't know everything,' she spoke wisely as she shrugged.
You smiled.
A phone rang and Lady pulled hers out of her pocket.
'Oh, my taxi is here,' she said when she looked at the message.
'Taxi?' you said, surprised. Lady looked at you with a sad smile, getting up.
'I'm leaving today,' she said, her tone of voice apologetic.
'Wait, what?' you said, surprised, getting up as well.
'Yeah,' she sighed sadly, 'There are some things I need to do.' She pressed her lips together and looked at you.
'Go time?' Namjoon asked from further down the table. Lady nodded at him. Instantly all the other guys stopped their conversations and got up.
'We'll see you off then,' Hoseok said with a soft face.
'Will you be coming back?' you asked quickly, as all the other Gods gathered around her. Lady shook her head apologetically.
'But you have my number? You can always call and text me. I might not always reply instantly since I'm always busy, but I'll always be there for you, sister,' she said with a wink.
Even though you felt sad that she had to leave, you understood. You nodded, smiled and waved at her as she and the guys left the room to wave her goodbye.
The following days you spend mostly with the guys. Now and then, the other Gods joined your group for activities like dinners, hikes or sports. Changbin, Chan, Namjoon and Jungkook trained together every morning.
On Thursday afternoon, the boys decided to hold a baseball match on the pitch nearby. As usual, you went along to referee. After three matches, unsurprisingly all won by Seungmin's team, the guys decided to call it a day regarding baseball. After dinner, since it was still light and warm outside, most guys decided to stay in and lounge at the poolside for a bit.
'You guys go behave like children; I'm going out,' Seungmin said when the nine of you arrived back at the hotel.
'Where are you going?' you asked curiously.
'I wanna go take some pictures. There are a lot of really nice spots here,' Seungmin said.
'Can I join you?' you asked. Seungmin looked slightly surprised by your request but then shrugged and nodded.
It was nice to spend some time with Seungmin. Although he wasn't very talkative because he was focused on taking pictures, you still enjoyed your time with him. It was quiet and calm for once.
'I would think you'd prefer to take pictures of the sky or something instead,' you told Seungmin when he took a closeup picture of a bush with small white flowers. Seungmin looked up and blinked.
'Just because it's my speciality doesn't mean I don't get to have other hobbies,' he said savagely. 'Quite narrow-minded of you to think like that.'
You pouted at him, but you weren't offended at all. You knew Seungmin too well for that.
'Besides, you've seen me take pictures before; you didn't tell me I should've been taking pictures of the sky instead back then,' he added.
'But that's because I didn't know or realise what,' you said, quickly looking around and slightly lowering your voice when you continued, 'what you were back then.'
'And because you do know now, you expect that it has changed?' he teased. You shrugged. He did have a point. You knew about his interest in photography. You had seen him take pictures of the other guys, of you, of plants and flowers and of pretty views and urban sights. You even had a few of his photos hanging on your wall back in your room. None of them were of the sky nor had anything to do with the weather.
'Why do you like it?' you asked curiously.
This time it was Seungmin's turn to shrug. 'It's calm, easy. Doesn't cost much effort, and it's not too loud,' he said. You chuckled. Although he was one of the younger ones, he did look down on the other's behaviour now and then. Not that he didn't have his own moments of craziness. But in general, he could be more composed than the others.
You leaned back against a tree as you watched him take another photo. Seungmin turned around, checking the screen of his device for the result before he noticed you. He tilted his head slightly like a puppy trying to understand something as he stared at you.
'What?' you giggled.
'You look pretty like that. Can I take your picture?' he asked. Feeling slightly taken aback but flattered, you nodded. You didn't take pictures often, especially not of yourself, but whenever someone else took your photo, it always made you feel extra awkward. You did your best to look natural and keep the pose and facial expression you had had when Seungmin had turned around, but it was hard. However, after trying a few different angles, Seungmin seemed satisfied and came over to show you.
'Here,' he said as he came to stand next to you and showed you the end result. The angle did indeed make you look good, and you couldn't help but smile at the picture.
'It's nice,' you nodded, feeling your cheeks slightly redden.
'Shall we take one together?' he suddenly asked fearlessly. Even though it wasn't a big deal, it did make your heart bounce a little faster. You nodded, and Seungmin came to stand next to you, putting his arm around you. He pulled you in against him and leaned his head on top of yours. Before you could even realise what was happening, you had already heard a click. Seungmin checked the screen.
'Oh, your eyes are closed,' he noted. He brought the camera in front of the two of you again, and you quickly looked at the lens, trying your best at a "normal" smile. There was another click, and Seungmin checked his screen again. 'This one is nice,' he said, sounding satisfied. You looked at it as well but noticed there was a strand of hair that looked kind of weird.
'No, wait, let's retake it, my hair-' you began, quickly trying to fix it.
'It's fine,' Seungmin said, and out of nowhere, he planted a soft kiss on your cheek. 'I'mma use it as my wallpaper,' he said cheerfully, as he was already walking away, looking for a new spot to photograph. The butterflies in your stomach made you unable to protest any more, and you simply followed him.
After a few pictures of views and a wild squirrel, Seungmin returned to plants and flowers. He was just about to take a picture of a small blue flower when you tried to lean over to see it better. Something sharp and painful brushed your arm, and you hissed. Instantly Seungmin jumped up and turned around, noticing your arm. He put his phone away and grabbed your arm softly, inspecting it closely.
'It's just a scratch,' you said, checking it for yourself, but noticing it wasn't much, 'It's nothing.'
Seungmin shook his head. 'You're so clumsy,' he said, clicking his tongue. He let go of your arm. 'Gotta get it disinfected to be sure,' he stated.
'No, Seungmin, it's fine, really,' you huffed. It had barely scratched the surface of your skin, and although the lines were slightly red, there was no blood. But Seungmin didn't take no for an answer. He grabbed your hand and pulled you away from the thornbush that had scratched you, walking in the direction of the hotel, not letting go of your hand. Even though you thought it ridiculous to go back or disinfect for such a small scratch, you still didn't protest. You knew it would be of no use anyway. Instead, you entangled your fingers with Seungmin's and let him drag you back.
Silently and carefully, Seungmin applied the cotton bud with the cream on your scratches. You looked around Seungmin's hotel room. As usual, it was immaculate, compared to both your and Changbin's room. You felt warm air brush your skin and looked back at your arm. Seungmin was blowing on the ointment he had applied. It didn't sting at all.
Unlike his savage words sometimes, he often had times like these as well, where he was simply soft and sweet. He put down the cotton bud and grabbed the plaster he had prepared for you, unwrapping and meticulously putting it on you, oh so carefully.
When he was done, he looked up and smiled at you.
'Thanks,' you said, your voice coming out unexpectedly soft. Possibly because of how light you felt with all that fluttering in your stomach and head. Seungmin gave a curt nod and got up to throw the remnants of the products away.
'Where do you wanna take pictures next?' you asked, feeling slightly guilty you had cut his hobby session short.
'It's already getting dark outside; the lighting won't be good anymore,' Seungmin noted, pointing at the darkening sky that was visible through his curtains.
'Oh,' you breathed, feeling even more guilty.
'Besides, I got all the shots I wanted to,' he said carelessly. You weren't sure if he was just saying that because he noticed your guilt or because he meant it, but you were still thankful he said it.
'Oh. Right then,' you said, slightly unsure what to do and got up as well.
'Wanna watch a movie?' Seungmin offered as he took his phone out of his pocket and connected it to the charger. You were happy to take any reason not to go back to your own room but stay with him instead, so you agreed immediately.
To your surprise, Seungmin propped up the pillows against the back of the bed and laid down on it, petting the spot next to you as a way of telling you to come to sit with him. Having already walked over to the couch, you quickly walked back, smiling at him sheepishly. Your heart had been pounding slightly, but as soon as Seungmin wrapped his arm around you again and you scooted close to him, it calmed down slightly, in a good way. It felt safe with him. Warm and at home, at ease. Being at his side felt good.
Without having to use the remote control, Seungmin switched on the tv.
'You really have gotten the hang of that electricity thing, haven't you?' you giggled as you saw him flick through the channels with ease without having to lift a finger.
'It's rather convenient,' he nodded with a smile. You put your head on his shoulder and your arm around his chest, feeling comfortable and happy with him while he flicked through the channels, looking for something for the two of you to watch.
WRITERS NOTE:
Thank you for reading so far :)
My apologies for the inconsistent uploading. Besides writing I still work four days a week and have college one day a week. Most of my spare time is spent studying so I don't have a lot of time to write. After finishing a chapter, it also has to go through a wonderful and lovely beta LittleMissMillie2003 with whom without, this story definitely wouldn't be as good as it is today. Obviously, this precious beta writer also has a life, which means the chapters also sometimes take slightly longer before they can be posted.
I expect that I won't be able to upload as regularly or systematically as I used to. Sometimes you might get three chapters in three days, and sometimes you might have to wait for a week. I wish it could be different but I hope, despite the irregular uploads, you will still be able to enjoy this book.
I still have quite a few things planned, so it will definitely go on for a while longer.
Please enjoy :)
Lots of Love,
Dolly