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I AM BACK!

After many fals-procras-ahem- promises...

We made it out of the time lapse.

You are all so kind and amazing.

xo

LET'S GET IT!

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With her gaze rightfully on himself, where it belongs, Jungkook leans back in his chair and lifts his chin at Taehyung.

Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, at a loss for why he was on the receiving end of Jungkook's protruding jaw.

"Thanks for coming back," he calls out to you, miffed, and then turns his attention back onto the choreography as Jhope starts to count out a section again.

His Soulmate's confused gaze on Jungkook made him feel like his anger was dissolving, especially as her arm draped across his knees was healing him so warmly and something golden kept trying to fizzle up his back.

Seeing the comfort across his face, she smiles and scoots closer, leaning her entire side against his legs.

Heat rushed his joints, all stiff and weak just moments ago, relaxed now.

His entire body drifted.

Then with a shy smile, she leaned her head against his forearm and Jungkook couldn't feel anything other than peaceful anymore.

"Let's sit on the sofa. So you don't sit on the floor," his voice is raspy as he pretends he wasn't just furious a moment ago and now floating through a field of sunshine.

"It's alright," she answers, looking him up and down, clearly doubting his strength to walk.

Jungkook immediately stands.

He even puts a hand in his pocket to emphasize how easy this was, standing.

Not that he was proving anything.

Fully aware that the Bangtan members would be watching through the mirror, hopefully especially Taehyung, he scoops up her hand and pulls her to her feet, walking over to the couch holding her hand.

She stumbles after him, her feet tripping over herself.

And then as he was about to sit, he decided suddenly to lay claim to whatever this bond was.

The truth is,

Putting his back against the side arm of the sofa, he put one foot on the ground and kicked off his other shoe and wedged that leg against the back of the sofa.

Soulmate's eyes widened in surprise as she was suddenly being pulled to sit in between his spread legs.

She didn't react, numbly allowing her body to drop where it was being guided.

A red flush exploded across her face and up her ears as Jungkook folded her in between his legs, into the space that would have been his lap.

She was encased in him, his chest against her back and his legs on either side of her hips.

Her hand was still in his; he gently slides his thumb across the back of her hand as though to reassure and calm her.

She wondered if she even should calm down?

Is it okay they were practically spooning in the dance studio?

No, that doesn't seem right.

As she tried to turn to say so, he cleared his throat.

His low voice uttered by her ear,

"I'm sorry... but I'm really tired. This helps a lot... is it okay with you?"

Her heart drops.

Yes, he did look exhausted.

And it was her job to heal him.

Of course that should be her priority, instead of how she worried the other guys might see them.

His face and breath are warm against the side of her head, and her heart is thundering even as she says,

"Yes, it's alright."

And then Jungkook is both grinning in victory and trying to fight the little voice saying Okay but you don't really need to be holding her in your freaking embrace to heal.

I'm not embracing her, he tried to argue.

Only with your entire body instead of your arms.

This is way worse.

Shut up.

But then he sees how red her ears are and wonders if he did push her too quickly.

She is letting you do this even though she is uncomfortable.

Because she cares about you.

And you're doing this to what, make a point at V?

Does he even get it?

How small does that make you?

And then he feels terrible, and he wonders if he has taken advantage of her kindness, and is about to apologize...

.... when she suddenly exhales and drops the straightness of her shoulders and back.

She let herself lean into him.

Golden light explodes across his chest.

It dances across his vision and though he can still see perfectly clear, he doesn't want to.

He wants to see the bond mess with him, because it feels so shockingly amazing.

He is NOT smelling her hair as he lifts his chin to tuck her head against his neck.

He is NOT blushing because her thighs are against his thighs.

He focuses purely on the insane level of gold sparks happening to him as their entire bodies are practically touching and he feels the way he does right before his overworked body drops off to sleep, or when he is starving and has the first bite of hot food in his mouth, or when he sucks in a lungful of air after being under water way too long.

She sighs against him like she is experiencing something very comfortable, and all of him is 100% relieved that she feels the same crazy good things as he does, or else he would be clinically pathetic.

In order to look less needy, he racks his brain for something not-needy to say.

"I'm sorry. We don't have to do this if you're uncomfortable," Jungkook's mouth takes a shot in the dark.

And then he wants to bite his tongue off.

Please don't say no, please don't say no...

Because how he could possibly find the strength to pull away, he doesn't know.

"It's... it's okay. You're so tired, we should heal, however possible..." she whispers.

Oh thank god-

Jungkook lets go of the breath he was holding.

The choreography teacher lets out a shout.

"Ya!"

Jungkook snaps his head up to see all of the Bangtan guys stepping messily at the wrong beats and waving their arms uselessly in an attempt to look like they are doing the choreography.

As they stare through the mirror at the maknae and his soulmate spooning on the sofa.

Soulmate tenses like she's embarrassed and Jungkook suddenly feels so petty for using her this way, trying to put Taehyung in his place.

It wasn't worth it.

Nothing was worth making her feel uncomfortable.

He untangles himself from her, withdrawing his leg behind her and lifting her slightly so they are simply sitting side by side, leaning together.

Because even if he could lie to her, he wouldn't lie to himself.

He wouldn't do her wrong.

"I'm not trying to take advantage of you," he tells her. "Let's take it slower."

And her brows crease slightly as they both feel the same cold ache settle in from the decrease in healing.

But they smile at each other.

And that, to Jungkook, finally felt like he had done something to bring them closer.

-------------------

YOU

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Jungkook is only holding your hand so you wouldn't have to break contact, you tell yourself, ignoring the intimate way his long, callused fingers weaved against yours.

Please do not freak out over nothing.

Get a grip.

Keep your emotional ineptitude on the down low!!

And you're only just surfacing from this as you see Jungkook's shoe bouncing to the side.

... what the heck?

And he's sitting with his legs open for some reason...

And you're being pulled downward, into that space, into him...

You can't think, your head is blank as you fall against his shoulder, bouncing when your butt lands on his leg for a moment and then slides off to land in between his thighs.

... what is happening...?

He moves his face and allows your head some space beside his neck before you realize...

Heat rushes your cheeks, your entire body is blushing...

And you knows you're rigid, but you can feel the rise and fall of his chest behind you so you know he is breathing a little quick too, no matter how nonchalant he made this happen.

You want to turn to look at him, because this is insane, but his hand tightens around yours and suddenly he sounds so tired as he asks,

"I'm sorry... but I'm really tired.

This helps a lot... is it okay with you?"

He was only trying to heal.

And if the choreography teacher was pointedly trying to not look at you even as Jimin and Taehyung gaped, then that was something you had to deal with.

You force your spine to bend, to relax.

And as you did, you were practically melting into him because you were in a rush of golden clouds that felt like stretching after sitting all day, or being heated by warm blankets as it was freezing outside...

Suddenly, someone shouts and you jerk out of the haze.

Your eyes meet the disbelieving gawks of all the Bangtan guys, each looking at their youngest member blatantly cuddling you inside their work building.

Dear god.

You squeeze your eyes shut and wish that, this time, of all times, to finally be granted invisibility, please.

Jungkook breathes out behind you, and then his arms are around your waist, lifting you as he pulls his legs into himself, setting you down beside him chastely now.

"Let's take it slower," he says.

The softest smile lifts the corner of his mouth.

He hasn't looked so gentle since you met him.

Like he has a hundred secrets and they all have to do with you...

And you smile back at him, your heart leaping up into your throat...

"It doesn't matter how many binders I have to memorize. I'll make this work."

You think you must be drunk off Jeon Jungkook, because the sad love-confession sounding statement just slips out on its own.

"Binders?" He cocks his head to the side.

"Oh, well, probably similar to the ones that new staff, or your girlfriends get? When you guys.. date? I got one, of like, rules. Rules of Bighit."

You are halfway through your sentence when you notice that his eyes narrow.

Why? What did you say?

...probably similar to the ones that your girlfriends get...

"Not-not that I'm your, girlfriend, that-that's not, not what I meant... I know I'm not. Of course I'm not. I just mean, I meant that like, since I haven't seen those ones, I can only assume, well I don't know why I would assume it is probably similar, I shouldn't, but I was just saying- saying that I, well, no, anyway I just got-"

You're stammering so hard that your jaw is chattering, partially because Jungkook's narrowed eyes are such a contrast from the soft look he was giving you only a moment ago that you're thoroughly intimidated.

He has the mercy to interrupt you before you accidentally chew off your own tongue.

"Hey, hey..."

He cuts you off gently.

And it takes a few more aftershock syllables but finally, finally, you manage to shut up.

"Tell me about the binders?" he prompts.

You take a deep breath slowly as to not word vomit again.

He glimpses the serious look on your face, and a half-suppressed breath of laughter escapes him.

He bites his lip apologetically.

You huff at him.

"... Anyway, I saw your manager. He gave me a backpack. A binder of stuff to learn. Some masks for my face and hats to cover my hair. So I can blend in around you, without... you know, causing you grief."

The laughter fades off his face quickly.

You're a little disappointed.

His wide, bright smile was so nice to look at... so endearing, so adorab-

nope.

Nope, nope, nope.

Stop thinking about him this way.

Get a grip, girl.

"Is it that backpack over there?"

He's pointing at it, lying near the door.

You don't know why he's looking away intently, refusing to meet your eyes.

"Yes," you answer, a little concerned by the dark look on his face.

"May I take a look at it?" he asks, but he's already getting up, your hand in his, making his way over to it.

Sliding to the floor, cross-legged, he pulls you against him so your shoulders are touching and then he's opening the backpack, pulling out the cloth masks, the binder, and he's flipping it to a random page.

You lean over a bit to read it:

Attire: Unisex

For your own safety, loose, dark-colored clothing is-

You barely scan the first lines and then Jungkook is snapping his wrist to another section.

Camera Awareness

For your own safety and to protect your identity, remain aware of all cameras filming in the vicinity.

Staying off camera is a priori-

And he's shoved a thick portion of pages aside again.

NDA (Non-disclosure Agreement):

You read the title at the top and it is all you see before Jungkook's slammed the binder shut, his brows drawn together tightly.

He's staring darkly at the floor.

"Did Sejin hyung give you this?" he asks you, without turning his head.

His voice is tight.

For the first time, you wonder if you should have told him about this.

"... Jungkook... what's wrong?" you ask instead.

He spins his face around, and you finally see the anger splash across his expression.

"He's treating you like some, some girl, that we..."

And you know where this is going, but you pretend you don't because you want to hear him say it.

"When we... mess around. When we go to cities and we-"

Jungkook spits the words out.

And you thought you kept it off your face but he sees it, and he slams to a halt on the last words.

The words that you knew would have summed it all up.

There's silence for a moment.

"Isn't this... kind of the same thing?" you finally ask.

"What?"

"Well... it's not like you considered this seriously and decided it suited you, right? Our bond, I mean. It's just as spontaneous, just as random... as anything you might have done... while you were... travelling."

He just looks at you.

You lift your eyes to meet his, steeling your nerve.

And he's reading you, looking for something in your eyes.

He scans your face.

"Are you serious?" he asks.

Something about the vehemence in Jungkook's eyes keeps rendering you weak.

He waits, but his gaze is so intense that you can't bring yourself to answer.

His eyes narrow suddenly.

"This is unbreakable. You know that, right?"

You're frozen like a deer in the headlights.

And you finally recognize it, recognize why he's like this, why you're like this.

You finally place the predatory stance he's taken on.

As though he were gauging prey, as though he was dangerous.

And you had to admit, you knew he was right.

He could be dangerous for you.

He edges closer.

"It doesn't matter if you're serious..."

His lips are a whisper against yours.

His voice is low in his throat.

"We're unbreakable."

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