Bound by touch

Bound and chained

He walked out of the bedroom to find his manager, assistant noona, Meera and the other girl whose name he had forgotten gathered around the dining table. He took the seat beside Meera and pulled a pizza box towards him.

"Can I?" He asked Meera gesturing towards her hand which was resting on the table. It took a moment for her to decipher what he was asking.

"Ahh, yes." She moved the hand towards him and he slid his palm around hers, savouring the feeling of energy rushing through his body while lifting a slice of pizza with his other hand. He noted that he had been asleep for the entire afternoon as it was nearing 6 PM. He almost inhaled the pizza even though it was cold now, not caring about how he looked. He hadn't been able to eat since last night and so he was famished.

Meera was scrolling through her phone with a frown on her face as Taehyung studied her between his bites. He was aware of everyone staring at him but he didn't care. He was more fascinated by the girl in front of him who seemed completely oblivious to him. This was totally a foreign experience to him. Usually, people, especially women, couldn't stop staring at him, even to the point of being rude or straight-up weird. But his soulmate didn't even glance up from her phone. What was so important? He frowned at the thought.

Meera could feel him staring at her, but she forced herself to concentrate on checking her mail. She felt so self-conscious, her hair was a mess, she was wearing a normal old hoodie and sweatpants and she knew she looked plain, maybe okayish but nowhere near beautiful or pretty if she went by Korean beauty standards. And now through sheer luck or destiny, the most handsome man in the world was her soulmate. He looked perfect and adorable with his pouty mouth even while stuffing food in his mouth.

"So we uhmm.. need to move Taehyung-shi to the hotel. For security and privacy purposes. I hope that's okay with you?" The manager asked Meera and she frowned for a moment.
Why were they asking her about him living in a hotel? He could do whatever he wanted. She then realised he needed her to move with them. Hereon, wherever Taehyung went, she went. 

That realisation was abrupt, draining the colour off her face as she came face to face with the full extent of what this bond meant. She was now bound to him, literally chained to him for their entire life. This was not the first time an Idol had a soulmate who was from another country. She was a K-pop fan and she knew what happened after such incidents. Either she would have to move to Korea or he would have to move to India. Latter of which seemed impossible to her. BTS couldn't function without their members. That meant...

She was brought back to reality by the manager clearing his throat and she looked around. Everyone was looking at her expectantly, including him.

"I... can we not... is it possible for us to stay here?" She asked, avoiding Taehyung's intense stare. The manager looked up in surprise.

"I.. it's an important privacy protocol. We need to protect his identity. If the word gets out that he is here... I suppose you can imagine the uproar in fandom and media. And we need to make sure of security too. No offence, I am sure there isn't anything dangerous here, your house and this area seem safe enough, but we can't rule out the possibility of stalkers and crazy fans. One glimpse of him and we won't be able to handle it if there is a mass gathering. I assure you we will take care of everything you need in the hotel room. It won't be any inconvenience..."

"No, no. It's not... about that. I understand all these things and I am aware of how the ARMY fandom works. But I..." Meera glanced at Avni. "My sister is pregnant. I.. cannot leave her here alone. There's no one else to take care of her."

The manager frowned and exchanged a glance with the assistant noona. Avni spoke up, trying to assure Meera, "It's fine. I can manage, it isn't a big deal."

"She can come with us too, we can book an extra room for her," Taehyung said, though he could see this suggestion wasn't going to be accepted.

Both the girls protested immediately. Avni started speaking in Marathi rapidly and Meera argued back equally stubbornly. Though Taehyung didn't understand the language, he wasn't an idiot. He knew what the conversation between the two sisters was about and he hated that his presence in his soulmate's life was already causing her inconveniences. He knew that her concerns were totally valid, he wouldn't want to leave his loved ones alone, especially during pregnancy. He may not know much about it but understood that this was a delicate stage for both mother and the baby.

"Let's stay here for tonight, we can find a solution tomorrow." He suggested when he could sense that his soulmate was getting distressed.

"But what about..." his manager piped up.
"We will stay here today." V said, giving his famous blank look to the manager, the one that made him look intimidating and serious. Gone were the days when he would be forced to do whatever his manager ordered. He had more freedom and complete authority over his decisions now. Even though he was bound to follow privacy and security protocols according to his contract with his company, one night wasn't a big deal. And with such an extraordinary situation, he was sure he could get away with some rule-breaking.

When Taehyung saw Avni struggling with Abhi, he insisted that he was fine, he was feeling a lot better and urged Meera to go do whatever she wanted. Though Meera was sceptical about him being fine, she had to take care of Abhi too. 

So she ran behind a naked Abhi, gave him a bath, ran behind a naked Abhi once again to persuade him into wearing clothes, made him eat his dinner and take his medicine. It took her almost an hour before she could return to Taehyung and she could see that even that amount of her absence had taken a huge toll on him. 

He had seemed fine when she left him sitting on the couch, scrolling his phone an hour ago. But now he sagged into the cushions, his brows pinched like he was in pain, which he was. She could feel it. She felt guilty about it. She was mad at herself for not realising that he needed her. She should have hurried up. He was her responsibility now. His life depended on her and she should be there for him whenever he needed her. Cursing at herself silently, she sat beside him and gently took his hand into her, scooting close to him to touch their entire forearms.

Taehyung gritted his teeth to bear the pangs of sharp pain shooting from his head as he watched Meera wrestle a reluctant Abhi into his clothes. He smiled at the sight as she pulled his tiny hands through the sleeves of his T-shirt. Both of them were so adorable, so cute. He already loved kids, but watching his soulmate interact and take care of a kid made him feel things he wasn't ready to explore yet.

'Too soon' he told himself as he watched Meera make Abhi laugh. Her laughter made him feel something similar to sparks in his chest. And he wasn't ready to explore what that meant too. It was weird, the control bond had over him. He barely knew the girl and he was getting completely smitten with her. Which was so unlike himself. The intense need he felt for her was overwhelming. She was barely gone for an hour, but that completely erased all the progress he had made in the entire afternoon. He was badly in need of healing, he could barely keep himself upright as waves and waves of pain crashed through his head. 

He tried not to make it very obvious, but he was relieved when she came back to him, taking his hand into hers. He suppressed a shudder as energy began flowing into his body, healing him and relieving his headache. After a few minutes, when he felt better, he attempted to try and get Meera open up. He asked her about her parents, her education and generic questions about what she liked. He felt really bad when she told him that her parents had passed away two years ago because of the pandemic.

"It's okay. I am fine." She said and then proceeded to describe her education and her college. Taehyung could tell she was smart and sharp, yet humble as she tried to downplay her achievements.

After about an hour of playing around, Abhi came to Meera, wanting to be picked up and tucked to sleep. Meera left Taehyung's hand only for a minute as she picked Abhi up and adjusted him to lie down comfortably in her lap. She resumed touching Taehyung as she put Abhi to sleep. The sight was so adorable, it tugged something in Taehyung's heart.

//I was supposed to upload this chapter yesterday, but I faced a technical glitch. Sorry for the delay. Don't forget to vote if you like this chapter. Next part will be uploaded as soon as I get time to proof-read and edit it.//