The Wrong Soulmate (BTS OT7)

Chapter 4.4-Hoseok

wasn't really sure what to think anymore. We had the children. We could be a family and I could be a dad. But my soulmates kept something from me that never should have been a secret. What they did was just wrong. On top of that I still had another family I'd made over the last few years. I wasn't really ready to say goodbye to them. What if this was the first of many more secrets and fights. I couldn't bear the thought of leaving the people who had become my new family and then seeing my soul group fall apart again. It would be too heartbreaking.

I decided to focus just on the here and now. We had three beautiful children that needed us. While they hadn't quite accepted us yet we were all they had right now. The younger boy had found a way to put me fully under his spell. Jimin and I spent the day trying to gain his trust and we were slowly breaking down his walls. Watching Jimin with him took my breath away. He always seemed to know just what to do to make the little boy feel comfortable and seen. Giving him just enough space so he wasn't scared while coming close enough so he could feel safe and protected.

Eventually the little boy came out from under the bed and was willing to eat dinner with Jimin and me, but as soon as Yoongi came to the table he went running back to his hiding space, pressed far back against the wall. He reminded me so much of Yoona. She was also skittish at first, constantly hiding herself away, feeling unable to trust or relax. We'd eventually broken through her barriers and I knew if we were patient we could do the same with this little guy.

I returned to telling him stories about Koya, keeping things casual until I saw him start to yawn. "Hey buddy, do you want to put some pajamas on? Looks like Koya is already sleepy and ready to be tucked into bed with you."

He slowly slid back out and allowed Jimin and I to get him in his pajamas. "Do you want to sleep in the middle of the bed? We can sleep on either side of you to make sure you stay safe, how does that sound?"

The boy stared at us with his big round eyes but shyly nodded his head. "Koya?" He whispered out.

"Yes, of course Koya can come too. I don't think he'd want to be away from you."

——————————-

Sometime in the middle of the night our apartment security alarm went off. All of us were startled awake, my littlest bedmate frantically crawling on top of me to clutch me tight. Jimin shot out of the room to see what was happening while visions of Hyunjin filled my mind. I covered the boy's ears from the blaring noise while he began to weep.

Only a few minutes later the alarm was off and Jimin was coming back into the room.

"What happened?" The little boy was still shaking in my arms.

"His older brother tried to sneak out of the apartment and set off the alarm. Everything is fine, you can go back to sleep now."

I hushed the boy in my arms while rocking him gently. "It's ok, it was just an accident. I know that was scary but you're ok. I'm right here with you." Eventually he calmed down and fell back into a fitful sleep, never straying from my side.

________________________

I could feel the little boy stirring next, pulling me out of my own restless sleep. By the time I opened my eyes he was staring at me, Koya still held tight in his arms.

"Hey buddy, did you sleep ok? Do you want to go and get some breakfast?"

He shyly nodded his head. After we were washed up and ready for the day he held my hand as we walked to the kitchen where I could smell someone already making breakfast. I could see Yoongi sleeping on the floor directly in front of our apartment door. I'm sure he was hoping to avoid another escape attempt from the oldest.

Tae and Joon were in the kitchen making breakfast. Normally those two were the last we'd expect to see cooking but it looked like they were trying to keep it simple and just stick with the basics this morning. When Tae turned back to open the refrigerator I could see the little girl strapped tight to his back, cheek snuggled against him, legs splayed out on both sides, and thumb in her mouth.

"Hey little one, how are you? I'm Hobi, can I come and say hi?" She quickly turned her head away so it was facing the other direction.

"Hey angel, Hobi is nice, you should say hello." Tae gently admonished the girl, encouraging her to be friendly.

She turned her face back in my direction, pulled her thumb out of her mouth and waved at me, returning her thumb to her mouth as quickly as possible.

"I like your pigtails, do you think I could wear my hair like that too?" I gently brushed her hair with my fingertips. She quickly shook her head 'no' while showing me the beginning of a smile.

"Ok then, I'll just have to admire yours then."

Now it was Tae's turn to meet my little guy who was hiding behind my legs, clutching me tight.

I gently rubbed his hair encouraging him to come out. "Hey champ, do you think we can meet my friend TaeTae? He's really nice and he's making us breakfast. Look, your sister is strapped to his back and she seems to like him a lot."

He peaked out from behind my legs just enough to see the others in the kitchen and immediately hid himself away again.

"That's ok, we have all day little guy, maybe later huh?"

I could feel him nod his head yes into the back of my legs.

"Do you want to see your sister?"

Tae immediately squatted down on the ground, his side toward the little boy so he could easily see his sister.

Our little boy slowly approached her, cautious to avoid getting too close to Tae in the process.

"Hi Jina, are you ok?" We could hear him whispering to the little girl. Her name must be Jina.

The girl nodded, her thumb never leaving her mouth. That was all that was said before the boy scurried back behind me. Well, at least we now knew one of their names.

Breakfast was...interesting. Taehyung and the little girl seemed to have hit it off. She sat on his lap and babbled away at him while he fed her each bite. She seemed like she was likely to be the easiest for all of us to break through with, but at the moment she seemed like she was more than happy to just attach herself to Tae and never be set down again.

Our middle guy was still incredibly shy and terrified of everyone around him. We managed to keep him at the table but he insisted on sitting on Jimin's lap and turned his face to hide in his chest whenever he wasn't taking a bite of food or a sip of drink.

Poor Yoongi and Jin were clearly having the hardest time of it. The oldest simply sat there sulking, intentionally doing the opposite of anything he was asked. He glared whenever anyone looked at him and stuck his tongue out at Yoongi whenever he wasn't looking. We all tried to ignore the situation as much as we could, not wanting to encourage him, but it did give a bit of a dark cloud over the meal.

"What time are Yoona and Kookie coming back?" I was so excited to see Yoona's face when she saw the kids, but I also hoped the kids might warm up to her when they saw her, particularly the oldest who clearly needed a breakthrough.

"Just a bit after lunchtime. I think their plane left Japan pretty early this morning." Jin was the one who had worked with Kookie most closely to plan the trip so he seemed to have the most details.

"Then let's get ready to welcome them home, hmm? We've got a big surprise in store."

My dearest real-time readers.  Unfortunately I will not be able to update next Friday (May 26) so you can expect to see the next update the following Friday (June 2).  I apologize for leaving you wondering in the meantime!