Lucky Number Seven

02 | Duality

Mornings in the Bangtan household were slow and late, a sleepy silence usually blanketing the halls and rooms of their home until late morning. The first to rise was usually Jin as he was used to short nights and copious amounts of coffee getting him through long hospital shifts.
Either Jimin, Namjoon or Hoseok would follow soon after and then once the coffee was strong and brewed and breakfast was cooked, they would decide through rock, paper, scissors who would have to go and wake Taehyung, Jungkook and Yoongi.

That morning Hoseok was awake before Jimin and Namjoon and went to help Jin prepare breakfast. The younger stepped up to plant a small peck on Jin's cheek before getting the eggs from the fridge — eliciting a content hum from the eldest and a lovely smile.
They worked in comfortable silence together, only sounds the clanking of kitchen utensils and the gentle, classical music filling the air.

But it wasn't just the music or the way Jin and Hoseok effortlessly worked together that made the scene more home-y than one would have expected of people involved with the underground and treacherous games of life and death.

This feeling of warmth and comfort was also in the walls that weren't white but a slight off-white, eggshell tone that made the entire room less clinical. It was in the stickers that Taehyung and Jungkook had stuck to the fridge one exceptionally drunk evening. And it was in the framed pictures that hung on the wall next to the dining table, all displaying scenes of happiness and tender love and bright smiles.
The effort to make this home a true home — one that shelters love and safety — was visible in every little detail of the house. Be it the funny little animal stickers at the wardrobe to label the shoe rack for each member of the household. Or the cozy blankets and cushions in the living room. Or the warm, welcoming colours that grounded the rooms and brought a lightness to them.

This was a home for people who craved a home. People who desperately needed a family.
Every corner oozed the deep urge for a loving home. And that brought a bitter sadness to the earthy pastels and funny pictures. Because it's often those who experienced the most hardship that yearn for the most love and tenderness.

This wasn't only tangible in the way the home looked. It was also clear in the way the inhabitants acted around each other. All tender and caring and gentle touches.
At one point, Namjoon and Jimin had joined Jin and Hoseok that morning. The first sitting at the dining table with his laptop, going through mails with a slight frown on his face and only humming lowly when Jin brought a glass of water with a look of fond exasperation and a gentle kiss. Jimin was half laying on the dining table, head on his arms as he observed what Jin and Hoseok were doing, still half asleep with bleary eyes and deliciously tousled hair but ridiculously content to simply watch his soulmates.
At least for a while.

Bored out of his mind soon enough, Jimin ran a hand through his hair, stood and searched for a pen. As he sat down he was about to put it on the soft skin of the inside of his upper arm—
"Not where it's visible", Namjoon stopped him sharply. Dark eyes soft despite the harsh tone of his voice. Jimin huffed annoyed but unbuttoned his pyjama top and started to draw little doodles on the planes of his toned stomach. All cute and lovely.
Hoseok grinned happily as he felt the light scratch on his skin at the very same spot where Jimin was drawing on his own.
When Jimin drew a particularly cute little koala, Jin laughed and Namjoon huffed amused.
"Yoongi's going to murder you for this", he said as he looked at his soulmate from behind his laptop screen.
Jimin simply shrugged with a cute smile. They all knew that despite his complaints, Yoongi loved to bear their doodles on his skin. Just like all of them did.

And yet, even as six different handwritings adorned their skin at any given moment — excluding their own scribbles — there was still a tender longing in their souls.
One spot still painfully cold and bare within their hearts.
One spot left that was aching to be filled with warmth and love.
They only knew of their last, missing soulmate because of one single line appearing on their cheeks four years ago, only to disappear moments later. Obviously scrubbed clean from the original's skin.
Since then...nothing. Their last puzzle piece was obviously very careful not to get any colour on their skin. It made the boys' hearts ache and fear for the worst. Did he or she or they not want their soulmates?
The boys' only solace was that the line hadn't reappeared faded and grey — the clear sign of a soulmate's death.