The Missing Piece

Chapter 26

When Yoongi and Hoseok had woken up the next morning, they both had pounding headaches and a deep taste of regret in their mouths. The shame of giving in to their baser urges for another soulmate, even just to the extent that they had was almost more than they could discuss with each other.

In the next room, Namjoon was much the same.

It was one thing to privately fantasise about other soulmates, but quite another to get drunk and let the gravity they felt to one and other play out. They were all ashamed of themselves for their lack of composure.

Yoongi and Hoseok could hardly exchange more than a few words on the subject, except to agree that they needn't tell Taehyung, and Yoongi making Hoseok swear an oath that he would never let anything like that happen again. It wasn't what anyone wanted, Yoongi had said. Hoseok, feeling gutted for his part in encouraging the whole episode, agreed, though with a heavy heart.

The trio were just travelling that day and they did so in almost complete silence. Their entourage and manager took this to mean they were hideously hungover, and indeed they were. Just another karmic punishment for their slip in protocols.

Namjoon had shuddered to think about how sloppy and careless he'd been the night before. Anything could have happened. He would have been far to drunk to realise if there was a problem with his suit, or to react if one of them had stumbled over.

Jungkook and Taehyung both received telephone calls from listless, hurting soulmates that morning and both urged them back home hurriedly. It was balm for their burning shame, but only so much.

Hoseok thought about trying to laugh the whole thing off, of pointing out that it wasn't really the end of the world, of trying to make the other two think of this as a window to their joint future. But neither of them seemed very receptive to an improvement on their perspective, so he left it alone and hoped that one day, they'd see the funnier side of things.

As chance would have it, Narae was the first of their soulmates that they saw when they finally made it back into Seoul later that afternoon. All seven men were scheduled on an interview show but the other four were already dressed and heading off to rehearsal. Narae and the rest of the styling team had to whisk them through hair and makeup to be ready as their van had got stuck in traffic from the airport.

Yoongi was sent to Narae for his makeup. They were briefly joined by a second stylist who sprayed and ruffled his hair, but that took far less time, so before long, the pair were left as much alone as they could be in a crowded room.

"Yoongi, what's wrong? You look terrible." Narae asked just as soon as she could. She'd been eyeing him with concern as soon as he'd sat in her chair.

He was startled by her hushed but desperate tone. When he looked up and found her reflection in the mirror, he saw how worried she was.

"Nothing." He said gruffly. "Just had a bit to drink last night."

Narae continued covering his upper eyelid with powder, but her expression didn't change. "I know it's not just that. Please, are you alright?"

Yoongi bit at his lip, the pain distracting him from any impending emotional surge which he absolutely couldn't afford. He gave a small, tight nod in recognition that there might be something more to it than drinking after effects. She obviously wanted him to elaborate but he couldn't.

"How are the boys?" He asked her instead, trying to seem bright.

"They're fine. They're a bit fed up about this being scheduled in at the last minute but they'll get over it." She smiled, but only for a moment before worry clouded her face again.