Bonded

Slacken

==twenty-six==

After devouring two hotdogs ordered through room service and beginning on the third one, he must've started to feel better, because his goofiness was back on track. You had left him to let the boys take over for the time being, knowing that they'd want to talk to him.

"Look at you guys! You all look like deflated balloons. Did you skip your skincare routines this morning?" He remarked as the boys watched him eating to his heart's content, acting like nothing had happened.

"He's definitely sobering up, isn't he." Jimin muttered, a small smile playing on his face, to which the others nodded.

"Are you all going to stand and stare at me like that? I know I look-"

"awesome? Yeah, we get it." Jungkook replied, shaking his head.

"I was going to say tired, but this is better. Now sit down you guys."

With a bit of shuffling around in the room, all of them found suitable places to sit, as he gobbled up the last bite of the hotdog.

"We were really scared, hyung. Don't do that ever again." Taehyung was the first to speak up.

"Hoo phot" The man replied, barely managing to speak clearly because his mouth was still stuffed with food.

"This guy and his insane love for food." Yoongi muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
"Eat it up first!"

Said man gave him a cheeky smile as he quickly gulped down the food.
"I'm not sorry. And do what, Taehyung?"

Jungkook rolled his eyes.
"Really? You're gonna act like you don't have any idea of what we're talking about?

You know the rules! No practice two days before you leave for the concert. At all.

And you sneaked out of the dorm at night? And ended up like this? Do you not care at all?" He exclaimed, exasperated.

Taehyung patted his shoulder, signalling him to calm down.

Jin looked away. The youngest one mattered a lot to him. Yes, they bickered almost all the time, literally manhandled each other whenever they felt like it, but that just strengthened their bond even further.
He had watched him grow up from a shy middle school kid to a bold man, and seeing that kid getting so worried about him start regretting his actions.

"I'm sorry, hyung. I shouldn't have been that harsh on you during practice hours." Hoseok said, his head hung low.

Seokjin rolled his eyes, even though he was feeling really guilty seeing the usually cheerful one of the group like this.
"Ay, you're seriously apologising to me for that? You don't have to be sorry! You weren't wrong, Hoseok.

And mind you, nothing is your fault. I did it out of my own free will."

Namjoon looked up, a very concerned expression on his face.
"We are a team, hyung. You don't have to beat yourself up over your capabilities. All of us have different talents, and what we do is combine those and create what we are. That's how our fans love us. You're not even a bit less capable than any one of us in here, and you're amazing in your own way.

Don't do this again, Jin hyung. Please. Talk to us whenever you feel down. We're all here for each other. We've always been there for each other."

A small smile made its way to his lips as he saw the older one dramatically wiping a fake tear. He knew that the guy was trying to lighten up the mood by being comical, but had actually taken his words to heart.

He would atleast know that much, after a decade of being together.

"Dang. You always know the right thing to say, huh." Yoongi remarked, stretching his limbs like a cat in the swivel chair.

"By the way, your girl seems to have knocked some sense into you already. Where is she?"

Seokjin's ears redenned the slightest bit, giving away his fluster upon hearing Yoongi address you as his girl. He cleared his throat, catching a glimpse of Jimin and Taehyung making sneaky faces at him, clearly because they had heard Yoongi.

"She went back to her room to catch some sleep. No one needs to worry about me when I've got food, and when I've got you guys."

"Pretty smooth. And disgustingly cheesy." Jungkook snorted, shaking his head.

"That reminds me, have you guys tried out the cheese hotdogs out here? They're darn good, I must say!"

~

Meanwhile, back in the room that you were sharing with Soeun, you lay on one of the two single beds, staring at the ceiling.

Barely a day after you'd arrived in Los Angeles and so much had happened. But you were really glad to have been able to know something more about your soulmate, a new side to the person you admired.

And it brought confusion, too. He refused to open up to six people who were like brothers to him, but he did that in front of you while you were just a friend. Where was this going to take you?

"It would've been better if closed your eyes for a bit instead of spacing out like that."

You flinched at the voice, lifting your head up a little to see Soeun trying to close the door with one hand she carried a tray of food in the other.

You sat up immediately, getting up to help her, but she shook her head.

"Sit down. You need to rest, and eat.

Mr. Soulmate has wolfed down three hotdogs by now, and you haven't even seen food ever since you arrived." She instructed, laying the tray on the small table beside your bed, pulling out a chair.

"Uh, I had no idea about what you liked, so I got everything I could on the plate." She chuckled, and you smiled gratefully.

"Thanks for this. I didn't realise how hungry I was until I saw this." You pointed to the tray, and she laughed.

"You've been thinking too much. Slack off for a bit, and fill your stomach."

---

No cliffhanger hehe.(but food)

I'm so sorry for not updating for such a long time, but I've been working on some of my other idea AND studying a lot, and that's specifically been exhausting T^T.
And I know I always keep saying this, but I'll really try to update more.

I hope you guys are taking care of yourselves and doing something instead of getting bored as heck at home lol.

Love y'all ❤️

Also, HAPPY SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY TO OUR BOYS GOSH THEY'VE COME SO FAR AND ACHIEVED SO MUCH. I'M SO PROUD OF THEM AND I LOVE THEM WITH EVERYTHING I HAVE IN ME.

Thank you so much for making me a better person and helping me through hard times 💜