"Jinnie!" I ran through the house to catch him before he left

"What!" He answered with furrowed eyebrows, but not out of anger.

"Good news! Namjoon said he's taking me on a date today and Hoseok said he's taking me tomorrow, so you know what that means?" I asked, playfully raising my eyebrows

Seokjin broke out into a fit of laughter "I guess I should start planning our date then"

"Uh, yeah!" I exclaimed. He leaned forward putting his face level to mine and pecked my lips "You better make it a good one for making me wait"

"Yes my queen" he hummed "Be back later, I love you"

"Love you too. See you later" I waved him out then closed the door then locked it behind him.

Feeling excited and energetic I ran to the studio where Namjoon and Jungkook were. I softly knocked just in case they were in the middle of recording. Jungkook let me in, wrapping me in a hug to greet me.

"Hi Noona"

"Hey Kookie, hey Joonie, are you two still working? You guys know you're still on vacation right" I asked, they both looked at me as if I was a weirdo. "Right, so what are you working on?"

"Nothing in particular, just tossing around some ideas and listening to melodies to see what sticks and what gets cut." Namjoon replied, pulling me to sit on his lap

"Do you already have a theme for the next album?" I inquired, wanting to touch all the buttons and switches in front of me

"You want to touch them, don't you?" Jungkook chuckled, and I nodded without looking at him "And yes we do"

"Here, push this one" Namjoon instructed after clicking around on his laptop and a pretty sound came out. I couldn't identify the instrument being played but I liked the way it sounded.

"It's so pretty," Jungkook pulled up another chair and sat next to us. Joon instructed me toggle with a few more switches until the melody came together "Ooh I like the way this sounds"

"I do too" Kook agreed, looking at Joon who wore a pleased expression "I seriously think this is something we could work with"

"I agree, sounds very much like something Jin-hyung and Jimin would sing beautifully on, maybe Hobi-hyung too"

Namjoon and Jungkook allowed me to fiddle with the board for a little while longer before it was time for us to go. Jungkook had plans with Yoongi and we had our date. I went to get ready in some blue jeans, a yellow knit top with a matching jacket and he wore tan pants, a gray hoodie with a long tan and black houndstooth sweater-coat paired with a denim bucket hat. On anyone else it would look stupid but Joonie pulled it off nicely, looking like stylish grad student.

"Sorry I can't drive us" he shyly smiled as we loaded into Hope's car with me behind the wheel.

"Why? I can drive or we could take the bus, it wouldn't matter how we get there as long as you pay" I joked making him laugh "Babe, not being able to drive isn't a bad thing, it's not like you really need to"

"I know but I feel like if I'm taking you out I should be able to drive you around" he shrugged.

"Well you're not so hush and put your seatbelt on"

"Yes ma'am" he stretched the safety belt across his chest, after hearing the click of his and mine being locked into its secured slot I put the car into gear and drove down the driveway.

"So, where are we going anyway? I kind of need to know since I'm driving"

"To one of my favorite museums, they have a new exhibit that I can't wait to see" His perfect smile brightened at the mention of doing one of his favorite things, I loved seeing him so enthusiastic

Namjoon gives me turn by turn directions until we arrive, I park the car and we get out together. After paying the admission fee he joins our hands and we walk around, taking our time to examine each artifact without urgency. Joon and I exchanged opinions of what we saw and he explained the pieces I was curious about to me. We spent nearly an hour in the main part the museum. Eventually we made it to the new exhibit where most of the crowd was stationed. Some people recognized us and I could tell they wanted to approach us but resisted against their own wills; it was appreciated.

For the first time since we arrived he released my hand, taking his time to walk around and gaze at the large sculpture. His eyes sparkled beautifully, it looked like they were being dragged over the figure by invisible strings, I loved watching him genuinely enjoy stuff. I took five steps to my right to read the plaque accompanying the sculpture.

"Excuse me?" A shaky voice spoke from behind me. I turned to see a man the same height as me with a woman only two inches shorter than us, both of their eyes shook nervously

"Yes?" I politely respond

"We are so sorry to disturb you but we both just really wanted to meet you and tell you congratulations on finding your soulmates" the man said, nervously twisting his hat in his hands

"Oh, thank you so much, that's really sweet of you" I smiled, putting my hand over my chest where my heart is

"You're welcome, my name is Joo-ae and this is my fiance Seungri. I'm a huge fan of Bangtan and I'm so happy they have you, it's obvious that they are so much happier since meeting you and bonding" She expressed wearing her small smile the whole time

"Aww, that is so nice of you to say and thank you for supporting them, they love army so much" I replied, wanting to hug her, she was so cute.

"You're welcome, please be happy and healthy. We're both excited for their comeback and will support you too Ma-ri, fighting!" Seungri quietly cheered. I couldn't help myself, I snatched them both up

"Thank you for saying that, I really do appreciate it. It's nice knowing everyone doesn't hate me. Sorry for hugging you but that just made me so happy"

"No, no, no, no, don't apologize. Enjoy the rest of your day" Joo-ae told me before before tensing up, her eyes stared past me ""

"Wha- oh, Namjoon" he looked neutral with a tiny pinch of protective and I noticed the bodyguards had moved in much closer than they were before-they arrived here before us to scope the museum out "Babe this is Joo-ae and Seungri, they both seem to be army and just wanted to say hi to me and congratulate us" I explained, wrapping my arms around his muscular one

"Hello" he bowed slightly in greeting "Thank you, that is very kind of you both"

"You're welcome. We'll let you get back to the exhibit, bye-bye"

"Bye" we watched them walk towards the main museum, staying quiet until they were out of sight

"Baby, I'm sure they were harmless but you have to be really careful. Not everyone can be trusted and some people are very sneaky with bad intentions"

"I know, I'm sorry but they were actually nice and cute." I pouted adorably, batting my lashes. Namjoon rolled his eyes then turned his body inward so that he was facing me and placed a soft kiss on my forehead

"It's okay love, they looked innocent enough and the guards always keep close eyes on you" he patted his butt and separated to see the exhibit for myself. Namjoon stayed close without hovering, letting me roam on my own. We stayed at the museum for a total of two and hours hours then went to a coffee bar

"Iced Americano?" I questioned. I stood in line for the both of us so he could go to the restroom.

"Yes. I'll hurry back" I nodded to show I heard him as he was speaking in a quiet voice.

As I waited I scanned the menu for what I wanted when my phone chimed, I pulled it out to see my grandmother calling so of course I answered immediately. There was still four people ahead of me so I had time to talk with her.

"" I greeted her cheerily

""

"?"

"" she chuckled, making me roll my eyes but also giggle ""

"" I moved up in the line ""

"" It's eerie how well my grandmother knew me, something tells me she already knew there was some distance in our group just not the specifics

""

"."

"" Namjoon came back just when I moved up another space closer

"" she scoffed ""

I couldn't help laughing, I could see the whole scene playing out knowing all too well how theatrical my aunt is. ""

"Is that your grandma?" Joon mouthed, I nodded "Tell her I said hi"

""

"!" she yells loudly making me pull the phone away from my ear. He giggled and leaned towards the phone

"" I switched to speaker phone, making sure the volume was low

"" I could practically hear her smiling through the phone. I think she has a little crush on Namjoon, she always perks up whenever she talks to him and Jungkook, it's cute.

"" he replied. We moved up again.

""

"!" I screeched

"" I groaned and shook my head

"" Joon answered. He smiled and touched my belly gently so I smacked his hand away ""

""

"," she retorted. I did not like the sound of that

"" I promised when we stepped up to the counter. ""

"replied cutely then hung up. We put in our order then took a seat at a small table near the counter to wait.

"That woman is crazy" I say to myself

"She's normal, every mom and grandma starts talking about babies when their children and grandchildren are dating, engaged or married" He defends, rubbing my hand "Halmoni is clearly happy for you and excited to see you with a family of your own"

"Okay "Mr. I can put a positive spin on everything"" I replied mockingly to which he just stuck his tongue out at me "Can I be honest with you?"

"I prefer it when you are"

"Right now, I'm not 100% sure I want to have kids. I feel like I have so much more to learn about myself, all of you and us as a unit before I'd be confident bringing children into our lives. The band doesn't seem like it'll be slowing down anytime soon and there is still the matter of mandatory military service. It's a lot happening for the foreseeable future"

"I understand your concerns Ma-ri, they're legitimate and we have a long way to go before we can truly think about becoming parents but I am optimistic about our future. I truly believe we will be happy and good together despite the obvious and not-so obvious obstacles we're going to face" Namjoon always sounds so sure when he speaks.

"Iced American and Chai Latte" a server sets our drinks on the table so we thank her

"I hope you're right Joonie, sometimes I feel out of place and it makes me wonder if I'll always feel like that. I know I'm supposed to be with all of you but with everything that's happened so far, I still doubt if I made the right decision" I express, we both take sips of our drinks and he looks away in thought.

After a moment he puts his gaze back on me, "Mari, I can't say I know exactly how you feel but I can tell you that I've had similar feelings of questioning my place and it wasn't that long ago. Two years ago we discussed disbanding and living out our lives as regular people. We had actually started planning a farewell tour and during the brief process I developed anxiety because I wondered who I would be if I wasn't RM of BTS. I started convincing myself that I had no place in the real world"

"Wow, I never imagined you would feel like that. To me you always appear so sure and confident of everything"

"Our mates rely on me as the band leader and I felt like that's all they needed me for; like if I couldn't be there for them like that then what other purpose do I serve. I knew they loved me as their soulmate too but that felt like second place to me so I convinced them we had to stay together, at first for my own selfish reasons but after some time passed I told them how I really felt"

"What did they say?"

"They called me an idiot" he laughed, catching me off guard. "What I seemed to completely forget was the reason we were even talking about disbanding in the first place, which was to spend more time together without work getting in the way or making us so tired that we barely saw or talked to each other outside of work-related things. It was straining our personal and romantic relationships with each other and we didn't want to prioritize fame and money over our love. We didn't want to only thrive on the love from other people, we couldn't survive on ARMY's love alone despite our efforts to do so. They mean so much to us, we love them dearly but we tried to make them our everything and that's not how it should be. We had to learn, me especially, that if this all disappeared tomorrow, we still have a purpose, that we always have a place in the world and that's with each other. We live for and because of each other Ma-ri. Your place has been and will always be with us"

I was too stunned to speak. Namjoon shined light on a new perspective for me and oddly, it made sense. Most people are not blessed (or cursed depending on who you're talking to) with having a person or people, made specifically for them. They aren't able to understand that having a soulmate is supposed to mean you would never spend your whole life being lonely or unloved or undesired or unappreciated, you'd never be unwanted or not needed.

In modern times the definition of what it means to live a life with purpose, has changed drastically but for people like us the definition has not changed, it's simple and outdated to most but our purpose in life is each other. We aren't meant to journey through life alone and confused, wondering why we are here and what we are supposed to do. The answer is linked to us from birth; we live for and because of each other, the simplicity of the concept creates a unique paradox that only a niche group of people can ever completely understand and fully agree with.

"Well, shit" was all I could verbalize

"Talk about a mind fuck, right?"

"Right! I totally understand what you just said, like it makes complete sense to me but still, what the fuck? Is it really that simple?"

"It's really that simple baby, who I am and why I exist is for you and because of you and vice versa. The eight of us are enough, being talented, famous and rich is just bonus on the beautiful life we'll share together"

I was confuzzled and extremely turned on. Leave it to Namjoon, (and Yoongi) to really dig deep and reassure me that I do belong with them and that I'm exactly where I'm supposed.

"Is it weird that I desperately want to suck your dick right now? Like I feel like I should thank you but I'm not sure how to do it" my head tilted to the side as I pondered how to show my sincere appreciation for his wisdom

Namjoon leaned across the round table so I did too, "" He whispered. Sitting back up he winked and wet his lips

"Let's go home then "

__________________________________________________________________

Namjoon dropping knowledge so good his girl dropping to her knees, ahh 👅 lol

Y'all know what to do at this point.