The Eight | A BTS Soulmate Fic |

Chapter 12

She rode to the practice space with Seokjin and Yoongi. It was a pretty quiet trip.

Once there, she tried hard to find a place that was out of the way, but close enough to not get whipped again. She was also introduced to her Security Guard. He insisted she call him Steve. She liked him. He had a good energy about him.

The next week was pretty much the same. Watch practice during the day. Hang out with Seokjin in the evening. Hoseok came by to visit occasionally, and Namjoon tried, in between everything else he does. She was forming a really great relationship with all of them.

It seemed the other 4 were avoiding her, though. Not that she blamed them. This whole thing was a lot to wrap your head around.

She had been having good days and bad days. She tried so hard not to think about what she was taken from, but nighttime was the hardest. Especially once Seokjin went to sleep. That's when the memories would assault her and she would find herself crying on the bathroom floor. One night about a week after she was brought to her Warriors, The Muse was on her way back to bed after her nightly crying session when it happened.

THWAP

She fell to her hands and knees. Tears came immediately as pain exploded across her back.

THWAP

What the hell?? She thought, as she tried not to scream.

THWAP

Seokjin jumped out of bed. He turned on a light and rushed over to her, yelling for help just as another

THWAP

Rang through the air. She was bleeding now. Her shirt torn with slashes in the back.

THWAP

Seokjin was panicking now.Trying to hold her through the beating, so she didn't hurt herself further. His door opened just as she was hit with another

THWAP

She couldn't breath, the pain was so intense. Tears and snot running freely as she gasped for breath. A security guard and the greasy man ran in and helped hold her down so she didn't jerk herself into the furniture.

THWAP

And then, it was done. She was breathing erratically, semi-conscious and not sure what was happening around her.

Min-Ho appeared next to Seokjin who, despite trying to be strong, was crying, too.

"Let's get her into the shower. Set the water to lukewarm. Not too hot. It will help ease the pain while you treat her." Seokjin stared at Min-Ho through his tears, not quite registering what he was saying. Min-ho bent and picked her up, motioned for Seokjin to follow and told the other two that they could not follow as he made sure the bathroom door closed all the way.

Setting her in the bathtub, Min-Ho turned on the shower and started pulling off her clothes.

Seokjin stood in shock. Still unable to truly comprehend what was happening,

Min-Ho turned to him, "You need to touch her wounds to heal them. Come now, she's in terrible pain. You can make it better. Get in the shower and hold her."

Finally realizing what was required of him, Seokjin sprang into action. Despite being uncomfortable with holding an unconscious naked woman, he knew he had to help her.

Stripping off his pajamas, Seokjin climbed into the tub and, with Min-ho's help, got The Muse into a seated position so he could get to her back. Seven slash marks decorated her skin now. Seokjin touched the top cut, and found with great relief that his touch was closing the wound. Every touch of his fingers, every swipe of his hand, the damage became less and less, until at last, her back looked like it had never been touched. Her skin was once again perfect, but she was still unconscious.

After ensuring that the others had left, Min-Ho helped Seokjin get The Muse out of the tub and to the bed. Seokjin rushed ahead to lay towels down. They dried her off as best they could before Min-Ho turned to Seokjin, "You will need to lay with her. Skin to skin will be best. Well, to be honest physical intimacy would work best. But," he held his hand up as Seokjin started to argue and said, "that is not an option right now. Hold her, skin to skin, and she will be better in the morning. You might find she's extra tired and not all there tomorrow. These kinds of beatings are hard to heal from. Trust me on this. I know it well."

He gestured for Seokjin to drop his towel and climb in next to the Muse. Seokjin's whole face got red.

"Shy now, huh?" said Min-Ho with a sad smirk. "I will be back in the morning to check on her and bring clothes. I'm sure you both will have plenty of questions for me. Try to get some sleep, Warrior. You fought well for your Queen tonight." And he was gone.

Seokjin sighed deeply. Turning off the lights again, he climbed back in bed and made sure his Queen was fully covered before pulling her into his arms. He was embarrassed to be naked with her like this. Worried she would think he disrespected her in some way, But his gut told him to hold her. Heal her. And this is what he had to do.