Y/N POV:
For the first time in days, maybe even weeks, you feel totally safe. A warmth sits comfortably in your body as you breathe in a familiar smell. Home. The smell of a refreshing, spring breeze. Your eyes open slowly as a yawn escapes between your lips. You feel a pair of arms wrapped around your back and waist, keeping you close to the warmth and comfort. Before you can help it a smile forms on your face.
"Aww. There she is." Hobi coos as he lightly pinches your cheeks. You blush and meet his eyes, blinking slowly. What a dream. To wake up in his strong arms.
"She's up?" You hear Namjoon ask. He then shuffles out of his seat and seats himself next to the bed. You turn to look over your shoulder and see his fond gaze. He places a hand on the side of your cheek and brushes the hair out of your face. You smile at him as you feel a flutter in your chest. You see him smile widely as he places a hand on his heart.
"I love when that happens." He says wistfully, like he's looking into the distance. You furrow your eyebrows at his statement.
"When what happens?" You ask.
"I'll have to explain it when we get home. Don't worry about it for now." He pats your head. You nod but stop quickly when the word 'worry' triggers something.
"Speaking of worry, where is Lianna and Yuqi?" You ask, sitting up quickly. Hobi loosens his grip at your struggle, but he still has you planted in your spot.
"They are still in the operating room. Lianna is getting intensive treatment while Yuqi is by her side." Namjoon answers, trying to soothe your worries. You scan the room to notice Jimin, Jungkook, and Jin all missing.
"Is she up? Where are the other three?" You ask, gesturing to the nearly empty room. Your eye catches Yoongi's as he smiles lightly. Of course, you return the gesture. Taehyung gives a little wave when he looks up from his hands. As you're still in Hobi's arms, a smile is the best you can offer him.
"They were talking to Yuqi for a bit, but I think they should be done soon." Yoongi answers from his spot, keeping his eyes on you. You hum and attempt to sit up the whole way. Hobi grunts in disapproval but lets you anyway.
You lean yourself against the headboard as you watch Hoseok readjust himself. He runs his fingers through your hair as you focus your vision onto the plain, white door. You begin to cut out all of the noise and looks coming from your soulmates as you attempt to hear beyond your door. Successfully, you cut out all of the distractions and can hear Jungkook's soothing voice. Just his voice alone makes your heart flutter again. Knowing that he is still okay calms your thoughts significantly.
Before you can listen any further, you gasp in shock as a light smack stings your thigh. With a parted mouth and wide eyes, you stare at the culprit. Namjoon rubs his attacking hand up and down your thigh as he offers a light, teasing smile. His gaze causes you to shudder slightly, a small heat flaring your insides.
"I don't think they would appreciate your snooping, darling. Focus on us instead. We've been without you for so long, after all." He drawls out, leaning closer to you. No words make their way out of your mouth as your fuzzy mind replays his unfamiliar behavior. Sure, you've partially seen Namjoon's assertive behavior with his first found soulmates, but he's never used it with you before. Your breathing tells him and yourself that it doesn't seem to be any kind of a problem.
All you can do is nod numbly and look into his eyes. He softens his gaze and leans backwards, reaching his original position. You didn't notice Hoseok's roaming hands during the ordeal, but they make themselves present as Namjoon retreats. You turn to face him as he smiles gently, squeezing your sore shoulders.
"Jin's mom said that you would have sore muscles, especially up here." He squeezes your shoulders again. You shut your eyes and bare your teeth slightly at the tense feeling. He hums and continues the task. "Lean your head forward, Y/n." He whispers behind your ear. Not needing a reason, you do as he says. Namjoon and Hobi remind of you of a good cop bad cop scenario in this moment... You'll think about that more later.
After tilting your head, Hoseok presses his thumbs against the back of your neck, nearing the top of your spine. A groan leaves your mouth as he reaches a knot under your skin. Your eyes squint even further, and you suck air between your teeth. He rubs heavy circles into your skin, working out the tightness. A rough palm lays itself onto your leg, but you do not open your eyes.
Hobi continues his work as you endure the discomfort. You know that in the long run, this will help you heal. A pinch on your leg pulls you back to Earth. You don't lift your head to avoid disturbing hobi, so you lift your eyes in a slight glare instead. Once again, you meet Namjoon's thick stare. For a few seconds, you simply hold his gaze.
He blinks at you before you finally say something. "What's up with you, hm? Did you not have a turn to lay with me yet?" You tease him in a quiet voice. He hums under his breath and grips your thigh, squeezing twice.
"Have I made it too obvious? Hoseok has about 17 more seconds before it's my turn with you." Namjoon says, tapping his index finger onto your leg, keeping time.
"I don't know... If he keeps this massage up, I might let him stay here." You say, exhaling heavily. Hoseok laughs and rolls your head backwards, working towards the front of your shoulders now.
With your neck exposed, Namjoon traces his fingers up and down your skin. Goosebumps line your arms as your breathing hitches. This isn't another dream, is it? If so, it's unlike any of the ones you've had before. Your head spins as he gently squeezes the two points under your jaw. As quickly as he started, he releases your neck.
Confused at his change, you snap back to the present. Namjoon reaches across your torso and pushes Hobi out of his spot. Hobi whines as he rolls out of your bed, and your body already misses his warmth. That feeling doesn't last for long as Namjoon claims the previously empty spot.
To your surprise, someone immediately claims Namjoon's old spot. Yoongi takes the seat beside you and also claims the spot on your thigh that Namjoon had just moments ago. He has a gaze similar to Namjoon's as he observes you quietly. For a few seconds, you stare at his face, absorbing his sparkling eyes, his flawless skin, his bangs that are partially covered by his beanie, his soft, pink lips, and his small, round nose.
Just at his appearance, your heart twitches. His eyes flicker and a smile lights up his face, erasing his previous look. He grabs your free hand and squeezes it. In that moment, what you've been missing suddenly flies back into your heart and mind. It may have been only about a week, but it felt like a lifetime of deprivation.
A heavy frown paints your faces, and his expression turns to one of worry. He cups your cheek and looks into your eyes. Namjoon even holds your other hand while leaning further into your side.
"What's wrong, Y/n?" Yoongi asks softly. All you can do is shake your head and dip your eyes. You don't trust your voice enough to respond to him. How could you have survived without them for so long? Is this what the soulmate bond really does to people?
He gently places two fingers under your chin, lifting slowly. You squeeze your eyes shut as Namjoon rubs your back. Taking a breath in, you open your eyes again. His eyes are round with worry as he examines your face.
"Talk to me, please." He says, now wiping your cheek. You nod and breathe in again.
"I'm just so... overwhelmed." Your voice cracks as you provide a weak response.
"What do you mean?" He asks, needing more.
"How did I live without you? All of you. A whole week I spent by myself, chained to a hospital bed. None of your love, jokes, or company. How did I become so dependent on all of you?" You wonder more aloud to yourself than anything.
He eyes you for several seconds before finding the words to respond.
"Because even if you didn't know it or feel it, you still had us. You were never fully alone. We were always with you in one way or another. And maybe you knew you had to survive for Jin, Jungkook, and Jimin who were stuck with you. As for how you became so dependent on us... maybe that's just my charm." He shrugs, trying to lighten the atmosphere. It works slightly as you chuckle quietly.
Feeling your mind slow down, a yawn exits your mouth. It seems like just staying awake takes the energy out of you. However, you don't want to fall asleep while finally back with your pieces of home. The silent Taehyung seems to notice your drowsiness as he hums to himself.
"We should let her sleep; she must be exhausted." He says quietly. Your eyelids become heavy, but you fight the oncoming sleep.
"I'm not tired. I want to talk to you all." You mumble aloud. Yoongi chuckles and rubs your thigh soothingly.
"I promise we'll still be here when you wake up. We aren't going anywhere." He whispers, leaning towards you. You simply nod and close your eyes before feeling a warm kiss on your forehead. The flutter of your heart is the last thing you all feel before you fall asleep.
Jin POV:
"How is she?" I ask, closing the door softly behind us. Yuqi wipes her face before taking a seat. I usher for Jungkook and Jimin to do the same.
"Ah... she's... she'll be okay. She's strong enough to handle it, I'm sure of it." Yuqi says, almost like she's convincing herself more than us.
"What is she like? Her condition, I mean." Jimin asks, fiddling with his fingers. I know that he is probably beating himself up a little bit because of her condition. He most likely feels like it's his fault that she ended up in such a state.
Yuqi sighs heavily before leaning back into her chair, slouching a bit. "Well, she is severely burned on the left side of her body and is currently passed out. She was trying to push off the effects as just a small issue, but as soon as she entered the hospital, she collapsed. I don't even know how she got into my car." Yuqi explains, rubbing her hands over her face in stress.
"She was acting like I didn't know the burn was bad. Her clothes were all black on the left side. Her hair was singed, too. When she wakes up she is going to get an absolute ear-full from me." Yuqi states, glaring at a spot on the floor.
"I'm really sorry about what happened." Jimin trails off. Jungkook grabs and rubs his hand to provide him with some comfort, but Jimin doesn't seem to really notice.
"Please don't be. She knew exactly what she was doing when she did it. If anything, I'm sure she would thank you for opening her eyes. Of course, she knew bad things were happening, but after seeing you three and Y/n, she finally put an end to it." She says, looking into Jimin's eyes to show sincerity. He huffs lightly but relaxes slightly anyway.
There are several moments of silence before Yuqi begins talking again. "How is Y/n holding up?"
"She's doing really well. We thought that the experience would leave more of a scar on her mental health, but she seems to not really think about it. However, she might break down about the whole situation when she's actually left alone to think about it. We could actually do the same thing." I laugh towards the end. She nods and smiles.
"I have no doubt that this will leave some scars on you guys, and I don't just mean the four of you. The other four might become more protective or a little paranoid. Though I suppose you four would be paranoid, too. I just know that you will all stick together even more and hopefully fall more in love." She says with hearts in her eyes. The love she has for Y/n is so strong that it is almost tangible.
I smile widely upon thinking about how much more we could all love each other. I used to worry about how our love could get boring or replayed, but let's just say that the fear is gone. Everyday I grow closer to my soulmates and find myself missing them more and more when I simply close my eyes. I've caught myself worrying about waking back up in that disturbingly white room and finding out that this could all be a twisted dream, but I try to push it away. We're all together now and there is nothing that could split us apart.
"You know, Y/n used to tell me all of the things she worried about regarding soulmates." Yuqi eyes the three of us with a small smile on her face. Of course, this wasn't something that we were completely unaware of, but we haven't really heard the full extent of her thoughts before. Well, maybe Jungkook, Yoongi, and Tae have heard it before, but our half hasn't.
"Oh, really? What did she say?" Jungkook perks up. She laughs at his behavior and nods to herself. I roll my eyes but don't deny my curiosity.
She looks up at the ceiling for a little bit to gather her memories. "Oh, she was so worried. She absolutely dreaded turning twenty because she didn't want to find her soulmate. She hated the idea of being tied down to someone she doesn't even know. It scared her. Though, I think she was also afraid of not finding them or being rejected.
I think she convinced herself that she liked the idea of being independent, but in reality, she was just trying to protect herself." She takes a moment to think. "I remember the day your names showed up like it was yesterday." She begins again, almost stressed this time. Jungkook leans forward with curiosity, and I would be a liar if I said that Jimin and I weren't doing the same thing.
"She cried for just about the whole day. I know she hardly slept that night, but there was nothing I could do to help. It tears me up when I see her like that, especially when I can't take her mind off of it. She saw one name and had to take several deep breaths...but then there was another...and another...and another. You get the point." She waves her hand.
"She just about broke down. Thinking about it now, I should probably let her explain this to you...but oh well, I'm almost done with the story." She laughs to herself. She must know that Y/n won't mind her retelling of the story. "She was a mess. She forced herself to go to class to get her mind off of things, but I really doubt that it helped. She hardly ate, slept, or concentrated on anything. She really only played the flute and made clay pots, but if it helped her then that's all I cared about."
"That's horrible..." I trail off. Jungkook and Jimin nod their heads in agreement. "I feel so bad about pushing everything so quickly." I mumble aloud.
"What did you rush?" She asks, concern dancing in her eyes.
"I don't know... We met on such abrupt terms and I feel like...I don't know, maybe she hated it. She could have been perfectly happy with the other three, but we came along and changed that." I lower my head in shame. Jungkook and Jimin turn to comfort me.
"I'm sure that's not true, Jin. I think she cares about all of us equally. Even if we didn't meet you under a perfect circumstance, I don't think she minded." Jungkook tries to convince me. I shake my head.
"I just feel so bad." I shake my head. "This whole time I was selfish. I wanted to meet them all so badly that I didn't think about how you four felt."
"I hate to be blunt, but why would that even matter?" Jimin asks. I give him a questioning glance, and he continues. "No matter the way, we would have all met. Even if we only met one of you, then you would have told the others to meet up as a whole group anyway. I actually think that the way we met was nearly perfect. It was almost like one of those scenes in a movie." Jimin smiles widely.
I begin to feel better but am interrupted when the door swings open.
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GUYSSSSS I DID IT!!!!
Finally an upload :)
It took me only about a day of having a laptop to write and publish a chapter, so that's great news.
I hope you are enjoying the story, and I'm actually going back in previous chapters to edit them. I've been noticing some very odd inconsistencies and am trying to change them. That being said, I'm surprised any of you suffered with this story long enough to be here. It's very...unpleasant to look back on lol.
THANK YOUU