Nada

Love and Respect

Hoseok was furious but he kept it inside, opting to hold Y/N until she stopped crying. He looked around outside to see if anyone was watching but if they were they were well hidden. It didn't matter anyway, Mordecai wouldn't be able to get through his security.

"And this is your room." He pushed the door open, depositing her suitcase next to the door. "I have a maid who comes in and cleans but otherwise there's no one else here." Y/N bit her lip, nodding. She was tired. She felt like she'd been washed and wrung out. She'd been getting terrible sleep because of the stress and suddenly her whole view of the seven men in her life had shifted and on top of that....well, she was still uncomfortable with sleeping in the same flat as Hoseok. It wasn't that he was a bad person....it just didn't sit well with her. She knew he wouldn't try anything but still...

"Try and get some rest, okay? Classes can wait today." She nodded, too tired to argue and walked over to the bed as he shut the door and then leaned against it, blowing his breath out. He didn't like this. He didn't like this Y/N. What had this man done to her previously that she became so small when he reappeared in her life? He wished they were back at the party so he could beat the living snot out of him. How fucking dare he.

Hoseok had asked about the book and Y/N had refused to tell him, making him think it was something worse than what the headcovering represented. Now that she was situated and he didn't have to worry for the time being, he let his mind wander over their small fight and her revelation.

It kind of hurt that she thought all of them didn't actually care about her as a friend or a person. That she thought they were only interested in her for her special talent. And it really hurt that she thought that about him. He enjoyed every moment he spent with her, he felt he appreciated both her mind and her body, he truly cared about her. And she thought it was because she could help him get with other women. It explained a lot though. It explained why she never talked about her past and why she was so resistant to them helping her with Mordecai. She had honestly thought they didn't care and would probably drop her if she brought drama into their lives.

-

"What's the name of the book?" Namjoon pulled out his phone, ready to use his English to figure this part of the mystery out.

"Um....I think it was called Love and Respect or something...." Namjoon said nothing in response, just hurriedly typed and started scrolling.

"I talked to my Dad, he said he'd look into it. At least give us a better picture of the guy. But he said there's not much we can do unless the man physically assaults her."

"Technically, he did do that at the party."

"Yeah, but we were all drunk. He'd need more than that." Hoseok groaned.

"At least we know he can't stay more than three months in the country. He'll have to leave for a bit, otherwise immigration will arrest him." Jin said, thinking.

"So, in other words, we have to hope he's bad at math." Jimin said, handing the oldest man a beer. Namjoon's whistle cut off any replies and they all turned to him, wondering what he'd found.

"What'd you find?" Jin prompted.

"Well, for starters, it's a marriage book."

"What?!" Taehyung's voice was the loudest but they were all incredulous. "Wait, what's a marriage book?"

"It's like a how-to manual for having a good marriage." Namjoon explained.

"Why on earth would he send that to her...."

"They were obviously involved at some point. We don't know how involved. Or maybe the book has some meaning to her that isn't obvious. Now shut up and let me finish." Namjoon glanced down at his phone, knowing Jungkook would be quiet now until he was done. "It's premise is that women need to show respect to their husbands and husbands need to show love to their wives."

"Ooooookaaaaay....." Jimin started but then his eyes widened slightly and he sat up from where he'd taken a seat next to Jin. "Wait. Only that?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, so the husband doesn't have to show respect to the wife?"

"Um....I doubt someone would actually say something like that, I'd have to read the book to see how the author is defining things, but....maybe it could be taken that way?" Namjoon was hesitant, knowing how many different ways those words could be defined.

"Then that's it. If Y/N was forced to choose between the two, which one do you think she'd pick?" Lightbulbs went off all at the same time. She didn't date. She didn't want romance. They all remembered times that Y/N had scolded them for coming off as disrespecting the people around them.

"Respect." Yoongi spoke for all of them.

"And this Mordecai guy definitely doesn't respect her."

"I think we need to have a talk with her." Namjoon's tone brokered no argument, not that anyone would've been able to think of one. "We need to know her history with this guy, we need to know what he's likely to do. We need to know what these sorts of things mean to her."

"I don't know if she'll tell us."

"Why wouldn't she?" Taehyung looked like he thought the statement was extremely stupid.

"Because...." It hurt to say it. "She thinks we're using her." Hoseok finally said.

"Uh....what....?" Hoseok sighed and slumped in his seat.

"Apparently, this whole time, she's been under the impression that we don't actually want to be friends with her. We're just using her because she makes our fuck lives easier." There was stunned silence.

"She's our friend." Taehyung said finally. "Did we do something to give her that impression?"

"For someone who can read people so well, she sure misses what's right in front of her." Yoongi grumped.

"I guess that's another question we can ask her. Tonight at your place, Hobi?"

"Sure, if she's awake."