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None of you liked the idea that Soulmates couldn't eat anymore, and rules are made to be broken so I bid that rule goodbye and spent half an hour going backwards to change it all.

Your wish is my command.

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And Jungkook's arm, of its own accord, pushes out and Taehyung in the chest.

Taehyung bounces off the wall, his face scrunched with pain.

Soulmate gasps.

"YA! What the hell?!" Taehyung looks up at Jungkook, his entire face lit with anger and shock.

Jungkook just stands there, glaring back at him.

And in the back of his mind, he doesn't know what he just did.

He doesn't know why he did it.

He doesn't even know who he is anymore.

He doesn't recognize himself.

And he knows he's wrong.

But somehow, he's still furious at Taehyung.

He knows he should apologize.

But he doesn't want to.

"What's going on?" Jimin's bare feet patter in from the hallway softly.

His hair is askew and he's hugging himself.

His eyes are heavy with sleep.

"Who is slamming doors again?"

Jimin's mouth parts in surprise at the tension in the room.

Jungkook still can't bring himself to stand down.

He tries to stop glaring at Taehyung.

He tears his gaze away, dropping his eyes to the floor.

"Jung... kook?" Soulmate's tiny voice breaks the silence.

Taehyung grabs the back of his head, wincing.

"Taehyungie? Are you okay?" Jimin nudges between Jungkook and Taehyung, his hands reaching for Taehyung.

"Kids... it's midnight. We have to be awake at 5:00AM. What are you guys doing?" drawls Yoongi's voice.

He drifts out from his room, looking them all up and down one by one, as he settles into a half sitting, half leaning position against the end of the sofa, watching them with cat-like eyes.

"Jungkook just pushed me into the wall! On purpose!" Taehyung bursts out, his voice raised and angry.

Yoongi's eyes meet Jungkook's.

And as soon as their gazes lock, Jungkook knows, without a doubt, that Yoongi knows exactly what is going on with Jungkook.

"Apologize to him," Yoongi says quietly.

Jungkook curls his fingers into fists.

Taehyung is the one getting funny texts from Soulmate, the one Soulmate is laughing with, talking to at midnight, not Jungkook, but Tae-

"Apologize to him, or it will never stop," Yoongi says coldly. ""

about being Bonded.

Even when he first learned he was bonded, and he was stunned, his first and worst fear was that he would no longer be himself.

That the bond would control him.

Exactly like it was right now.

"I'm sorry," Jungkook whispers.

He doesn't feel like he is.

He feels like he wants to push Taehyung until he stops talking to Soulmate.

But if saying sorry is what will give Jungkook back to himself, then he would.

"Why... what was that abou-" Taehyung starts, pulling his head out of Jimin's concerned hands groping his scalp.

"Go to bed, both of you. Jimin, please take Taehyung with you."

Suga lifts his eyebrow at Jimin.

"... Yes, hyung," Jimin says softly, as the realization dawns on him that they were complications in a possible solution.

"But, he-" Taehyung points at Jungkook, adamant, as Jimin links his arm through Taehyung's and drags him away. "He-"

They fade into Jimin's room, where Jimin was presumably to keep Taehyung contained.

Faint buzzes of arguing and conversation are cut off as the door closes behind them.

Soulmate is still staring at Jungkook, her eyes wide.

How can she not be afraid of you? Jungkook asks himself.

No wonder she'd rather laugh with Taehyung.

You're an angry beast.

"Jungkook..." Yoongi sighs. "I was giving you time. But it looks like you aren't coming around to it."

Yoongi looks over at Soulmate.

"You two need to talk," he tells her.

Standing up from the sofa, Yoongi is already trudging off as he says, without even looking back...

"You're bonded. You'll both suffer if you don't understand each other. You need to talk."

And like that, it was just the two of them left, standing in the half dark living room, alone.

Alone with his soulmate.

And that thought reminds him.

Yes, she's your soulmate. Get it together. Fix the problem. Because there's no other way.

"Are you alright?" Soulmate asks, carefully.

If Jungkook concentrates, he can still feel the little tingle in his hand at the sound of her voice.

He exhales.

'I'm sorry," he says.

And this time, he means it.

"What happened?" She peers at him.

"I... I was..." he hesitates.

Jealous.

Angry.

Insane.

"I was really tired," Jungkook tries for part-truth.

"I guess I needed Healing and sleep more than I thought. And I just lost my temper."

That was not going to cut it, he knew.

She wasn't having it.

She crosses her arms and practically taps her foot.

"Sometimes..." he tries again, "sometimes I feel like we don't know each other. But... that we should."

This was closer to the truth.

"... I guess you're right," she answers.

"But... why... how did that have to do with... why did you push Tae?"

And something flares in him that she's calling him , but Jungkook forcibly shoves it away before it can sink its grip on him.

"I feel like you and him know each other better. Better than you and I do."

It was as much as he could bring himself to say.

Any more and he would kill himself.

Seriously, he physically could not bring himself to delve deeper than that.

Her expression scrunches in confusion.

"But I've known him since school, so of course we know a lot about each other..."

But she trails off as she sees the look on his face, like he's in physical pain, and she pauses.

She tries to read what he isn't saying.

She looks at him.

Not just him, but all of him.

His shirt, lopsided from him tearing himself out of bed.

His hands still in fists at his side.

His lowered head, lowered as though... ashamed?

His tense posture, hardened jaw.

He vague statements.

His silence.

"But... we're bonded." She finally realizes.

"We should... try to get to know each other. I should have tried harder."

And then all the flashbacks begin to make sense.

The way he always shoots her a bright smile when he first lays eyes on her.

The way he pulls his headphones off as soon as she enters.

The way he looks at her, angles his body toward her when they talk.

The way he stares at her while she works, as though he was waiting.

"I'm sorry, Jungkook. I've been..." she presses her hands together nervously, "I've been trying not to bother you, with... conversation."

Jungkook's head snaps up, incomprehension all over his features.

She looks away.

"I... I love the way you smile when you think I'm not looking... I love the way you laugh when you think I'm too busy to notice. You're so... so carefree, with your hyungs, and I'm just... just..."

Her voice trembles.

"You're so carefree with your hyungs. Not like when you're with me, you're so quiet, and careful... and I am trying not to intrude. I promise. I'm trying to leave you alone, I swear."

Jungkook is shaking his head.

He can't find his words because he doesn't know what he wants to say.

"I know, that sounds ridiculous now," she rushes to explain.

"It's just that, I know all the Bonding stuff has been so quick and intrusive already for you. I didn't want to make more of it. I wanted to give you space, and time."

She's practically twisting her fingers off.

"I thought it would be too much if we rushed a friendship, I thought it could happen slowly. But it probably makes the Bond all the more strange and overwhelming if we act like strangers, hey?"

She smiles sadly.

Jungkook thinks he might be understanding what she is saying.

That she isn't just... disliking of Jungkook.

It isn't that she just likes Taehyung more.

She had been trying to give Jungkook time.

While he was moping and completely misunderstanding her attempt at giving him a gift, his freedom and space to be free from the Bond.

Which he had held so dear at the beginning.

But they no longer seemed as important now, as golden lights shot across his chest.

"I don't... need that. You don't have to do that," he brings himself to say.

Jungkook's voice is husky with emotion, and he's not used to it.

"Let's... talk more often."

She smiles.

"Yes, let's."

And then everything did change.

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