Fateful (book 1 of the OT7 series) ✔️

Chapter 23

The next few days passed in a blur, with all 7 boys busy planning the trap. There were so many things to organize and even more contingencies to put in place in case something went wrong.

Aerin was oblivious to the hive of activity at The Cottage. She had spent the first couple of days post-break up constantly checking her phone, sure that at any second Yoongi would call or text to say that he was sorry and that he'd made a mistake. But the call never came and her phone only ever lit up with concerned texts from Miki, and occasionally, from Taehyung or Jungkook. After those first 2 days, she came to accept that Yoongi wasn't coming back and she alternated between fury and despair. She didn't even know why he did it which meant she didn't even really know what to be angry or sad about. She felt stupid for having fallen in love with him. She spent hours rehashing all their conversations and reliving their intimate moments. And still she couldn't bring herself to tell Miki about what happened. Somehow telling Miki would feel final and Aerin wasn't quite ready to feel that way yet. So she avoided Miki's calls and only texted about the mundane. She spent almost all of her waking hour at the office, since she couldn't get to sleep when she was home anyway.

Miki grew increasingly worried. She knew that something was wrong. Yoongi was reserved before, but now, he was completely cut off. The boys commented often on how sad he seemed. Miki knew it wasn't just a fight and she couldn't figure out why Aerin wasn't telling her what happened. They told each other everything. The fact that Miki was house-bound made it worse because she had nothing else to focus on.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore. Very late one evening, she sought out Taehyung at the office. "Tae, are you busy?"

"Hey Noona. No, it's under control at the moment. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I need a favor. Can you please drive me to my apartment? I would go myself but I'm pretty sure Joonie would lose his mind if I did that."

"Where is Joonie hyung?"

"He's gone out to talk to some informants or something. I'm not sure. I would ask him but he's not here and I really need to go. Please Tae?" Miki put her hand in a prayer position to emphasize her point.

"Noona, you know you're not supposed to leave the house. What is so urgent?"

"Tae, I'm worried about Aerin. Something's wrong and I just need to make sure she's ok. Please? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

Taehyung reluctantly agreed and drove Miki over. They were knocking on the front door but there was no answer.

"Noona, are you sure she's home? She might be out?"

"She's home. We can track each other's phone. That's how she found Kookie and I in that alley." She took out her house key and opened the door. They spotted Aerin, just lying still on the couch.

"Aerin, I'm going to kill you. Why didn't you answer my calls? I've been worried sick about you." Miki marched over, while yelling at Aerin. Taehyung trailed behind her.

Aerin sat up and as soon as she saw Miki, promptly burst into tears. Miki and Taehyung's eyes widened in shock and they rushed over. Miki sat down next to Aerin and hugged her. "I knew something was wrong. Tell me." She ordered.

Aerin was crying so hard she could barely get a word out. Taehyung thought maybe she was feeling self conscious that he was there so he excused himself and went to the kitchen to give them some privacy.

Aerin told Miki everything, about how Yoongi broke up with her for no reason, that he never once looked back and that she loved him. It hurt so much to retell the story but Aerin felt better after it was all over. Miki was furious and funnily seeing someone else being angry on her behalf, diffused some of her own sadness.

There was nothing more to be done. Aerin had run out of tears and Miki had ranted all she could about Yoongi. Taehyung and Miki waited until Aerin had fallen asleep before they left to go back.

Miki had held back some of her anger while talking to Aerin because she hadn't wanted to make the situation worse. But in the car ride back, she got progressively angrier and angrier. How dare Yoongi play with Aerin's heart like that. She was going to give him a piece of her mind.

As soon as they arrived at The Cottage, Miki stomped inside. Namjoon was waiting for them in the living room. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw them. "Thank God. Miki, what did I say about you leaving ..." He broke off when he saw her furious expression. She walked straight past him to Yoongi's room. Curious, all 6 boys followed Miki there to see what was going on.

Miki banged her fist on Yoongi's door. "Yoongi, get your ass out here. I have things I need to say. You know, I never pegged you as a fuckboy. How can you do that to Aerin ..." she yelled through the door as she waited for Yoongi to answer.

But when Yoongi opened the door, Miki felt the bluster and anger seep out of her. He looked terrible. His normally handsome face was pale, and his eyes were red-rimmed, clearly from crying. "Yoongi?" She asked softly.

He was silent for a minute before he said, "Is Aerin ok?"

There was such a wealth of hurt in his voice, Miki teared up in response. "She's not ok. She's been working herself to death and barely sleeping. What's going on, Yoongi?"

He just shook his head but kept silent. Miki didn't have the heart to yell at him when it was clear he was hurting too. She hugged him instead and she heard him whisper, "I'm sorry." in her ear while a tear rolled down his face.

She nodded and let him go. He went back inside his room and Miki went to hers.

The boys had been watching from the hallway and were in shock. They looked at Taehyung for an explanation. Taehyung had heard snippets of the girls' conversation, enough to piece together what happened. He relayed the info to the boys, who all looked down in sadness when they heard.

Namjoon made his way to Miki's room and knocked. He heard a teary "come in" and found Miki sitting on the floor, leaning against her bed. He sat down next to her but said nothing. She leaned her head down on his shoulder and held his hand.

After a while, he said, "Are you ok?"

"Not really. It's not really my business, but I wish Yoongi and Aerin would figure out their relationship. It makes me sad to see them like this."

Namjoon squeezed her hand. "Me too. But they'll sort it out. They're both adults."

"I know. I think I'm just hypersensitive because there's been so much tension in the house. It's tiring."

Namjoon looked at her in surprise. He didn't realize she was feeling this way, she had always been so cheerful. And he himself was feeling much better than before, now that he had shared his burden with the boys. They have a plan in place now and he was feeling things were under control. But he supposed she hadn't been involved in all the discussions, all she'd seen were the 7 of them running around.

"Hey, let's do something fun tomorrow. You still owe me a date."

"Excuse me, weren't you just yelling at me for leaving the house?"

"OK, I wasn't yelling. I was concerned. And we don't have to leave the house to have a date. Leave it with me, I'll organize something tomorrow. Ok?"

Miki smiled and nodded. "Sorry I made you worry earlier."

"It's ok, I was also being paranoid. But you know you look sexy when you're angry." Namjoon teased.

Miki giggled. "So you want me to be angry at you all the time?"

"Ahh correction. You look sexy when you're angry at other people."

They both had a little laugh. It felt good to laugh after all the drama of the night. Miki moved to straddle Namjoon, facing him. He casually placed his hands on her waist and she looped her arms on his neck while she bent down to kiss him. They kissed passionately for long minutes before separating to catch their breath.

Namjoon willed his body to behave, as he leant his forehead against hers. "I have to go meet someone in a few minutes." He said, regretfully.

Miki nodded and moved away so Namjoon could stand up. He gave her one more hard peck and said, "Don't forget our date tomorrow", before leaving. Miki threw herself on the bed and squealed against the pillow. She can't wait!