Never Give Up

Chapter 37

POV: Yoongi

As he watched Jin settle Y/N on the sofa, he felt a mixture of emotions. The other guys were euphoric that they were going to be able to publicly share their soul bonds with Y/N. She was worried and anxious about how the news would affect the rest of them. Everyone was excited for the upcoming concerts. The problem was that he couldn't seem to tell how he was feeling. It was so easy to feel the others' emotions now but that made it hard to understand his own reactions. It was really starting to concern him. He tended toward being an introvert, but he'd always tried to be aware of his own mentality.

Before he could spiral into his own anxiety, he could feel Y/N's eyes on his. As they locked gazes, his concerns fell away. She held her hand out to him and he came to her as if she'd pulled on a rope. She tugged him down to sit next to him and turned to cuddle into his arms. Jin smiled at the two of them before he went to get his Nintendo Switch to try and turn his brain off. When he found it, he rejoined them on the sofa.

Yoongi blankly watched the maknaes take cute pictures and videos before talking about the mechanics of today's performance while he absentmindedly caressed Y/N's arm. He felt content and peaceful with Y/N next to him, but his mind whirled in the background between his thoughts and the feelings everyone was having. He wished he could shut himself off. If he couldn't, he'd be exhausted for the performance.

"Suga honey," Y/N murmured, threading her fingers with his, "what's going on in that brain of yours?"

He smiled into her hair and kissed her head. He sighed and leaned his cheek against her crown. "How did you know?"

She laughed, playing with his fingers. "Honey, I could feel you stress thinking from a mile away. You may fool the others, but definitely not me. What's got you wound up?"

He sighed. She was surprisingly perceptive for the length of time they'd known each other. He felt bad for adding to her load. This was his problem. "I'll be alright. Of course, I have those typical questions... Are we making the right decision? Will this be good or bad for all of us?"

She stroked his hand almost like she was painting something and he could feel himself relaxing even further under her touch. "You know I have those concerns, but I thought you were on the revealing team. So is this your ability picking up on my anxiety?"

"That's the problem, isn't it? I don't know," he snapped. He blushed, ashamed that he was taking this out on her. When she looked up at him, her eyes held such compassion. He knew she didn't take offense at his minor show of temper. He let himself drown in their green depths for a while. It felt like it let the noise in his head lessen just a bit.

She put her palm up against his cheek and he leaned into her touch. She soothed the stress lines between his eyes with careful fingers. "Yoongi, didn't you have to touch your mark to feel everyone else? Do you not have to do that anymore?"

"I don't. It's always flowing in. That's why I'm stressed." He felt so conflicted. He liked knowing how the others were feeling so he could quickly provide assistance, but he was overwhelmed. He leaned and rested his forehead on hers. "I don't regret having this empathetic bond, but I don't even know how I feel anymore. I can't separate everyone. I'm starting to get lost! What can I do?"

She crossed her legs and faced him with her back solidly against Jin's shoulder. She firmly kept the hand she'd been holding, but held out her free hand. He placed his other hand there. She looked at him seriously, considering his problem. "Let's think about this. You're pretty self-contained, but you care deeply for everyone." He was shocked that she'd noticed. She smiled. "It's pretty obvious, my prickly baby." She gave him a saucy wink.