Bound by Fate

Unsure territory

// 13 August

"Jae?" Yoongi peeked into his room after coming back from a meeting with a producer and found his soulmate asleep in a sitting position on his bed. She was leaning on the headboard with her laptop in her lap and her head was tilted awkwardly to the side. He paused for a moment, taking in the adorable sight of his soulmate in his sheets. It was late in the afternoon and he knew she must have been tired. She hadn't slept well last night.

Deciding to let her sleep, he slowly pulled out the laptop from her grip and saved whatever she was doing on it before closing it. He then pulled up the sheets to cover her and pushed a pillow under her neck, being careful to not wake her up. Staring at her for a few more moments, he sighed with regret and walked out of the room.

Yoongi found Jungkook eating Ramyeon at the dining table and went to sit beside him with a bottle of soju.

"So early in the day, hyung?" Jungkook asked, eyeing the alcohol.

"Just stressed." Yoongi replied and Jungkook nodded seriously.

"About the sasaeng situation." It was more of a statement than a question. "She should get caught quickly before she does anything. Or it could be really dangerous." Jungkook muttered.

Yoongi downed almost half of the bottle in one go and sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder if life would have been easy if I hadn't been an idol and just became a producer."

Jungkook hummed thoughtfully at his hyung.

"Well, life would definitely have been easier, but we wouldn't be at this level of success and be so happy as we are now. Or maybe we would be, who knows?" Jungkook shrugged. "Sometimes I do wish I had a normal life too. It's hard, being an idol and having to put up with so many expectations that you forget how to live for yourself."

Yoongi looked at his maknae, surprised at what he was voicing out. Jungkook must have been feeling really strongly about it for him to say that aloud. Normally, the kid didn't let anyone see what was going on in his mind. Yoongi had also noticed his younger brother quieter than usual in the last few weeks.

Jungkook had been disappearing a lot lately, staying out for whole nights before turning up for schedules completely exhausted and crashing right after them. Yoongi had also overheard Meera and Taehyung worrying about him.

Suddenly there was a tight feeling in his chest. Was his little one suffering or having a hard time? Jungkook had gotten an expert in staying strong and playing his cute little naughty maknae persona over the years. So good that it was sometimes hard to decipher if he was really happy or just acting.

"Jungkook-ah..." Yoongi called him out, but paused when he didn't know how to voice out his concern without pushing the kid away. It was too awkward, having to have such a conversation and he needed someone as a buffer. Namjoon, Hobi or Jin hyung generally acted as one for him, but they weren't there right now.

"Ye.." Jungkook automatically responded and looked up when his hyung remained silent.

Something passed between them when their gazes met and Yoongi looked away. Jungkook's grip on his chopsticks tightened, his jaw clenching for a moment. He quickly inhaled the last bite of his ramyeon and threw the plastic bowl in the dustbin hurriedly before storming away to his room.

Yoongi cursed at himself for making everything so awkward and making Jungkook feel cornered when he was already stressed. The maknae was definitely troubled and he wished he could do something about it.

Jungkook was shy and sensitive, an introvert just like him. The idol industry could be harsh even to the most strong-hearted people and Jungkook was too young to have experienced the things he had in the past few years.