time step - A BTS AU (Random Updates)

Chapter 22

The room's occupants, being enthralled with the game on the little old device as well as in the teaching and presence of its owner, were rather upset to find that it was, after several hours of game play, losing battery. "To be honest, I am surprised it lasted this long," said Hoseok, marveling at the longevity of the flip phone.

Rather well timed and only slighty disruptive of the happy little gathering, a response was received from the rather nervous junior to the dinner invitation. The text had informed them that the five would be there after freshening up. "Ugh," Jin exclaimed, "I forgot about food. What are we going to cook?"

Meanwhile, Eunha was looking about their faces, "are we having guests?" a somewhat nervous tone encompasing her words.

Yoongi hummed out a conformation, "don't worry, they are nice guys. And you already know them."

This comment left Eunha confused, wondering who it was that she knew in this time who would be comming to dinner at her soulmates house. Her mind pondered the posibility of it being the elevator group from that morning but she didn't ask, thinking she would find out later anyway. Instead she moved to the kitchen where Jin had dashed off to earlier. "Would you like some help," she asked the soulmate whose head was currently within the fridge as he searched for what to serve. Her voice had startled him and he jumped, hitting his head. "I am so sorry," she apologised, moving his side to check on him.

He groaned in discomfort, rubbing the back of his head, before he felt her hand upon his shoulder, "no, no. It is alright." He turned with a wonky smile of reasurance plastered on his face and was shocked at how close she was, even gasping due to this.

"Like I thought, that must have hurt," she said in response to the sound. "Let me see," she called, beckoning him to lean down with a motion of her hand. He complied with a blush and nelt on the floor in front of her so that she could easily see his head. She moved his hair gently, looking at the skin bellow as she checked for any cuts, lumps or bruises that might be the result of his startled contact with the fridge's roof. "It looks ok, but tell me if it starts to hurt, or if you get dizzy or anything. Okay?" Eunha instructed.

Jin was about to reply but Taehyung walked into the room, staring at the pair with confusion. Jin stood, Eunha taking a step back to allow him to, and asked, "what is it?"

Taehyung blinked before responding, "they wanted to know if they should bring any food?"

"Oh," Eunha remembered, "Yoongi and I bought snacks when we were out.... I think I left the bag in the living room."

"Well, we don't need them to bring snacks then," Jin smilled to her, "but perhaps some things for a bbq? Meat and onion? Otherwise, I think we have everyrhing else."

"Alright," Taehung said before texting. He then walked out from the room only to soon return with the items Eunha had mentioned, placing the bag upon the bench.

The three got to work preparing the food happily. "I thought you didn't like to cook Tae," Eunha asked the yonger of her soulmates in the room who beamed at her use of his nick name. He denied her statement with a happy smile, telling her that he had just wanted to be one of the ones who gave her a tour, and that he hadn't had anything against cooking itself. She was glad to hear this, it made her giddy having a soulmate tell her that he didn't want to be away from her, from her side, even though they were still going to be in the same house. She blushed and turned her head away.

At one point she got the bandage that covered her hand covered in sauce, "ah," she had exclaimed after doing so and places down the bowl she had held.

Jin, who had like the rest been informed by the soul investigators that the hand wound was from a fall, wondered how bad it really was under its covering. Eunha had been changing the bandage herself, asking the night she arived for some medical supplies and assuring the protesting group that she was fine to do it herself. But now, Jin took her aside from the cooking, left in the care of Taehyung as he watched the pair with a trailing glance, and unraveled the soiled fabric as he sat them down upon some stalls in a corner of the room.

"Let me see," he had said as he took her hand in his. She sat there awkwardly, remembering the embarrassing reason that the wound was even there in the first place. Against her prayers and even though Jin had already been told a reason, he gently asked as he unrolled the long piece of cloth, "how did you hurt yourself?"

She couldn't lie to him, not even to hide her embarisment, "I-I," she stammered before just blurting it out, "I hit a street pole."

The two who had been with her, listening with worried anticipation at her hesitancy were startled at her admition, left wondering, as Taehyung so simply put, "why?"

She blushed and turned her head away, hiding her face from the two as Jin finaly removed the last of the fabric. "Frustration?" She answered in a question of her own motives.

"Well," Jin began, "if this wound is anything to go by, it looks like that pole is going to have a hefty dent." Taehyung had moved away from the cooking to see what the elder had been talking about and gaped as he saw Eunha's hand, feelings of distress and worry for his soulmate flooding his system. The only thing that took him back to the countertop was the reasuring look from Jin and his Hyung's instructions to do so. "Eunha," Jin adressed with a soft tone asking her to once again look his way, "where is this pole you hit? I think I want to check it for damage," he joked and she looked back to face him, unable to hold in her bubbly little laughs that made a warm fuzzy feeling rise in the chests of her soulmates.

"It is near my university, a few streets away. I was walking away from the place where I was going to have dinner with my family, the same block which I found to now be a construction sight," she explained, deciding to just tell them. "When I was waiting for the lights to change it began raining and I had no where but the libary to go; I couldn't get into my apartment, couldn't contact my family, and the place I was supposed to meet them was gone. A construction sight. I didn't know what to do and the next thing I know," she said, looking down to the hand Jin was cleaning, and flinching as he applied some disinfectant.

His actions stopped when he saw her body twitch before he begain again, more slowly, more carefully (if that were even possible). There was silence for a while as he wrapped her hand in a fresh bandage before Taehyung spoke hesitantly from besides some chopped vegetables, "hyung, that construction sight near that university.... isn't it the land for the company's new building?"

"I think so," Jin answered solemnly, feeling as though their soulmates hardships were somehow their fault.

"Oh, well it's okay guys," Eunha reasured as she caught on and looked between her two saddened soulmates. "It's not like I would have been much better of if the resturant was still there... I mean my family wouldn't have been inside and I would have been just as confused. I might have still ended up punching that pole," she laughed a little to try and lighten the mood but she only recieved a sad smile from Jin as he tried his best to reasure her that they were okay. "And anyway," she tried again, "this is only a small price to pay for meeting you, all of you. I would do it again, punch that pole I mean, even time travel, if it meant I would be with you all."

Jin slid forward to the edge of his chair and reached his arms out. He pulled her into his chest and hugged her tightly, an overwhelming and confusing ocean of emotions consuming him and driving him to do something. All he could think to do was this. Taehyung rushed over and nelt at their side, wrapping his own arms around them and squeasing even tighter, wishing to draw them all closer. They stayed like this for a while, not caring about the food anymore, only each other.

The moment was broken by the whirling sound of doors opening, the nervous rustle of feet, and the exchange of greetings as txt entered the adjacent room.