//
"You alright? No one said anything to you right?" Taehyung asked when they were walking towards the exit of the venue and Meera shook her head.
"No one paid attention to me. I was fine and studied the whole time."
"Good. I wanted to ask you something. I.. My mom and dad have been asking me to go visit ever since I came back to Korea." Taehyung looked at Meera expectantly as they waited for the driver to bring up the car to the entrance of the building.
"Uhh.. you can go, I think I'll be fine for a few more hours." Meera said, not understanding why he was asking her about a visit to his parents. He had taken about 4 hours to shoot his parts and about 20 mins to change back into his own clothes and remove the makeup. She was sure she could go a few more hours without him if he wanted to go to his parent's house. It was him she was worried about. He was the one who would need her in about 2-3 hours.
"No, I mean.. My mom's been pestering me to take you to visit them. My family wants to meet you."
"Wha- I.. but why?" Taehyung made a noise of amusement at Meera's wide panicked eyes and pulled her when the van came as she had frozen completely.
"You are my soulmate Meera- wear your seatbelt- of course they want to meet you." he said as they got into the car.
"But.. but I.."
"Are you nervous?" He asked, taking her hands into his and reaching to her through the bond at the same time. She did seem frazzled to him. "Don't be. They are good people, kind even. They wanted to meet you sooner, as soon as we arrived in Korea. Mom had planned a lunch, especially for you. I asked them to wait so you would get settled in first. They have been waiting patiently all this time. And I.. you know I wouldn't let anything bad happen. Trust me?" He asked, rubbing the backs of her hand with his thumbs.
That moment, looking into her vulnerable eyes which were looking at him with utter trust and hope and feeling how small and fragile her shaking hands were in his large ones, Taehyung realised one thing. He had started liking her, not just as a person, but on a deeper level. He had started to care for her and not just because she was his soulmate. He realised that soulmate or not, she was now his to care for, his to protect, his to nurture.
Meera gazed into those warm eyes and was reminded of what an ARMY had once said in a tweet. That tweet was seared into her mind and now she realised how true it was.
"Taehyung was born in the middle of the winter because the Universe saved the entire year's worth of warmth and filled it inside him."
He was the warmest, fuzziest and cosiest person she had ever met. A strong, steadfast bear whose eyes held the silent promise to protect her no matter what.
He squeezed her hands lightly, reminding her that he had asked her something and she released a breath.
"Okay, I just.. What if they don't like me?" She asked him and he rolled his eyes at her.
"Don't ask stupid questions. Of course they'll like you. Who wouldn't like you?"
Meera was flustered at that, what could she even say? She simply nodded and settled back into her seat.
"You could have told me earlier. I would have worn something... prettier." She mumbled sulkily as she stared out of the car.
Taehyung looked at her and frowned.
"But you look pretty in this dress. What's wrong with it?" Meera's cheeks reddened even more as she tried to disappear into the seat.
"Stop thinking too much and stop saying stupid things. You do look really pretty. My parents are going to love you." He said, recognizing she needed a boost of confidence and giving it to her.
//
Taehyung got busier as days passed and Festa drew nearer, spending the entire days and half the nights at work. BTS had a world tour planned and were starting to get on with practice for the songs they were to perform in the concerts.
He had shifted to the dorm for the ease of transportation and that was really a whole other experience for Meera. Living with Bangtan was constant chaos. That was the only way to describe it. There had to be adjustments on the members' side as well as Meera's side too. The members had to learn to behave a bit more modestly now that there was a girl staying with them constantly.
They couldn't venture out of their rooms for snacks or a glass of water in just underwear anymore. It took a couple of close accidents but everyone learned to dress appropriately, at least in the common areas. Thankfully the company was now big enough to afford a house that could give each member their own bedroom and so it made everything a lot easier than it would have been if it was their previous dorms.
It was a surreal experience for Meera. It was hard to reconcile with the fact that the global superstars who had seemed so unattainable from her phone or TV screen were just normal human beings in their day-to-day life.
She had seen Jungkook and Seokjin losing their minds over a game of Overwatch, screaming their throats hoarse until Yoongi had shut them up. She had watched Namjoon break two glasses consecutively in the exact same way inciting scolding from Seokjin while Yoongi just shook his head as if he was used to it and brought out a mop for Namjoon to clean it up. Jimin and Jungkook randomly bursting into songs and belting out high notes was considered normal and even she had stopped getting startled every time it happened after a few days. Taehyung and Jimin, Jimin and Yoongi, Jungkook and Seokjin bickered almost every day over the smallest of things and made up so fast that at this point she wondered if they fought just for their amusement.
Everyone babied Taehyung and Jungkook, always giving them whatever they wanted, doing things they wanted, watching things they wanted on TV, eating things they wanted. And of course everyone was so welcoming, warm and kind towards her. Even though she felt that she was sometimes intruding on them, none of them seemed to think so.
In fact, they made her feel like one of their own, making sure she was always included in their conversations that weren't work-related and taking care to not leave her out of anything. As much as she tried to give them space, they pulled her right back in asking her about the inner workings of the ARMY fandom and what an average ARMY might like in terms of fanservice.
Life in dorms was as domestic as it could get on a bachelor pad with 7 highly busy men in their early twenties. Though she could only get rare glimpses of it as the members were too busy to stay in dorms for more than a few hours of sleeping. She herself was shuttled to and fro everywhere Taehyung went as his working hours had started to extend into nights. His sleep schedule had started getting ruined with Meera getting affected too. She had a normal sleep routine in India. With Korea being only a few hours ahead but Taehyung's tendencies of sleeping late, she had more or less adjusted to the time lag. But now, with Taehyung's sleep schedule fucked up, Meera was finding it hard to follow a good sleep pattern too. Sometimes they would come home really late, around 2 AM at night, going straight to sleep after washing up only to wake up at 6 AM in the morning to go to a shoot location or squeeze in dance practice for the tour.
Also, every member's schedule differed according to the things they were working on so Meera would only get to see the members in passing whenever there was a group schedule. She would always sit in a waiting room or BTS's makeup room working or giving her exams, which were thankfully being conducted in online mode, or studying while Taehyung worked and came to her whenever he was exhausted to recharge. She had started falling asleep whenever and wherever she could find time and a place to nap due to such sheer exhaustion and stress of her exams.
How the hell did BTS members even function normally if she was so tired due to just lack of sleep and sitting all day in a room? She wondered as she watched them dance repeatedly to perfect a choreo one late night in the practice room.
It was the last day of her final exams and she had come down to the practice room for the first time to watch the dance practice after being done with her last exam. She had made sure with the manager first that she was allowed and he had assured her that because it was so late, only the inner circle who knew about her was at the company.
Taehyung missed a move when she entered the room and sat on a spare chair while they were practicing a particularly complex choreo. As usual, Hoseok's sharp eyes missed nothing but he let it go knowing it was one of the rare instances of Taehyung making a mistake. He stayed quiet and gave Taehyung a small smile when the younger brother looked at Hoseok knowing his older brother would be watching.
"Sorry." Taehyung mouthed sheepishly while they continued the dance without missing a beat. He was flustered that he made a mistake while Meera was watching. He tried to ignore the wonderstruck face of his soulmate as he focused on his moves.
They were given a break before moving on to the next song that was to be performed by the rapline only. Taehyung walked toward where his soulmate was sitting and looked around for spare chairs. Noticing there weren't any around, he opted to stand beside her, refusing vehemently when she tried to offer him the chair.
Meera frowned at him breathing heavily after the rigorous and continuous practice that had been going on for hours. It was past dinner time and she was sure he hadn't eaten anything. She knew because he always made sure she ate with him or before him if he was going to eat late. He never let her miss any meal even between his exhausting schedule. There was a sheen of sweat covering his skin even though the AC was turned on to the lowest setting possible and his skin was flushed. He had ditched his shoes somewhere between the practice and she could see his feet were aching with the way he stood.
She stood up and started tugging him towards the wall, away from the frame of the camera set up to record the performance. She slid down with her back to the wall, pulling him with her. Taehyung let out a sigh of relief as he finally got to rest his legs after hours of dancing and bouncing around and laced his fingers through Meera's, pulling her hand in his lap and pressing his bare arm along hers to get as much charge as possible. He stretched his legs and Meera gently placed her leg against his, offering him much needed relief.
She could practically feel his stiff muscles relax through the bond as he sagged against the wall and dropped his head on her shoulder. Meera was sure the position must have been uncomfortable for him as she was a lot shorter than him but it was proof of how tired and energy-starved he was that he just leaned against her, seeking her touch.
"How was your exam?" He asked, taking a sip of water from the bottle a noona had handed him.
"Good, this was the last one, so.. I am finally done with my education." Meera told him grinning with happiness. Taehyung raised his head in surprise and looked at Meera.
"Today was your last exam? You are done with your degree?"
"Yes, I am so relieved. Finally, I don't have to give anymore exams." Meera sighed.
"Waah, why didn't you tell me? We could have gone somewhere to celebrate."
"Wha- No, no. It's fine, not a big deal."
"No, it is a big deal. This is a major event in your life and it should be celebrated appropriately. Why aren't you excited?"
"No, I mean I am excited. I just- I am happy, really. We can celebrate when the results come out."
Taehyung peered at her remorsefully, recognizing what she was too polite to say. She wanted to celebrate, but his schedule wouldn't allow it and she was too nice to make an issue out of it. Within the short period of time he had come to know her, he had understood the kind of girl she was, utterly kind and selfless.
He had watched her struggling to adjust to the difference in time and knew she had had many sleepless nights. He could see how hard it was for her to balance her studies, exams and her work training while she was regularly shuttled from place to place for his work with so little amount of sleep that she was constantly exhausted. And yet, she had never said a word of complaint. It was his dream, his work but she was suffering equally alongside him.
"We should do something tomorrow. I'll try to get a break, see if they can adjust my schedule for some free time. Maybe a nice dinner." He murmured, looking ahead and trying to figure out if he could find a free slot of time in the next few days. He knew he didn't really have free time, but he was determined to do something.
"Taehyung, no. I mean, that's okay. I know you are busy. The festa is just in a few days and you have the fansign tomorrow."
"I- fuck. Aish. This is really frustrating, I am sorry." He facepalmed himself and Meera chuckled.
"It's okay. Really. We'll celebrate as soon as you get some break. Right now, go focus on your practice. Sejin-shi looks like he wants to talk to you."
Taehyung looked up to see his manager hyung waiting for him and sighed. He stood up reluctantly and instantly missed Meera's touch. His muscles started aching again and he tried not to groan out loud.
"Have you eaten yet?" He asked and she shook her head.
"I finished my exam just before I came here. It's weird having to give exams at night due to the time-difference."
"Go have dinner then. The managers must have ordered something for us and the staff. Go help yourself."
"What about you? Are you not going to eat?"
"I don't know, we still have to practice a few more songs and go through briefing for the Fan meeting "
"I can ..uhh wait. I am not that hungry yet." Taehyung shook his head at that.
"Don't. I don't know how long this is gonna take and we cannot eat before the practice is done or it'll make our stomachs ache. Go have your dinner." He told her before walking away from her. He hated that he had disappointed her. She had just wanted to have dinner together and he couldn't even give her one small thing she had asked for.
//This was a long ass chapter too. Don't forget to vote if you like the story. Also, Tanishka, if you are seeing this, I love you and thank you. This story wouldn't have been possible without your motivation and kind ecnouragement. Hope you are well and alive after all the drama that has been going on in fandom. Also, everyone, did you watch J-hope on the street? If not do watch the MV and stream it. we need more views to show our sunshine the support he deserves.//