Beyond The Stage

The First Visit

Alexis's POV

The guys were no doubt surprised, asking question after question when Sejin had told them I was multilingual.

Sejin explained what happened during the interview after seeing the mess he had created. I couldn't help but feel glad when I saw the pride in their eyes.

"Ah, my soulmate's so intelligent." Jin gushes.

"Absolutely perfect." Jungkook follows. They never cease to compliment me, even over the little things. If they keep doing it, I just might get an ego.

"I just got bored. That's all. Namjoon you did that too right?" I ask.

He walks over and takes my hand. "For two languages, not five." He mentions. I forgot that he knows a large amount of Japanese, as well as some of the others.

His fingers caress my wrist and palm before softly grasping my fingers. I get flustered, unable to do anything but stare at his actions. Sejin laughs, smiling fondly at us.

"I'll leave you to it, I just came to say Congratulations." He says. "Be good, okay?" He speaks to the boys.

"No promises. She's just too cute." Taehyung says. Sejin shakes his head and turns around to leave.

When the door shuts, Hobi speaks up. "So Alexis." I turn away from Namjoon's grip on my hand. My face is most likely red from Taehyung's words. Hoseok smiles before continuing, "Do you want to come over to our dorm to celebrate? I think the others would be okay with it." He looks around, making sure to to include the other members. They all nod. "I know it hasn't even been a week since we actually met, so you don't have to if you don't want to." He smiles nervously.

I appreciate how thoughtful he is. Not only to me, but to the others as well. He is constantly aware of the fact that there are eight of us, not just him and I. I'm sure the others are aware too, but I wouldn't blame them for being selfish. I'm just happy that they consider me someone good enough to be selfish for.

I smile brightly and look up into his eyes. "I would love to."

The stiff postures they all had from my possible rejection relax.

♡♡♡

After a game of rock paper scissors, they decide who rides with me and who doesn't. Jin, Hoseok, and Taehyung won, so we all share one car. The other four take a different car. With a frown on his face, Jimin pouts while hugging me, saying how the world is unfair. I know he's joking around when he fails at hiding a smirk.

Namjoon and Yoongi smile and wait for him to finish his act before waving goodbye and going into the car. Jungkook stares me in the eyes unsatisfied. They all act as if I'm not about to see them in twenty minutes. Even though it's only for a few minutes, it feels wrong to part. Wow, this bond is strong... of course that's what it is, right? They wouldn't feel that way without the soulmate bond influencing them.

We get to the apartment building that holds their dorm. The building looks friendly and average. It is about twenty stories tall, and the decor gives off upper middle-class vibes. You would never think that seven idols would be living here.

The manager driving us looks around to make sure no one is watching, before letting us go. The other car is farther back, so he stays behind as extra protection for the rest as we go inside.

Taehyung has his arm around me, his shoulder almost touching my head to shield me just in case. Jin is on my right, and Hoseok is on Taehyung's left, close enough to reach me in a moment's notice.

They are all wearing hats, but not covering their faces. It makes me wonder if the other residents either don't know, or if they were forced to sign privacy statements. Of course, the complex workers would be sworn to secrecy, but they can't really do that to people in other apartments. How do they even go to grocery stores?

We walk into the elevator, and Jin presses the 5th button. The door opens to a long hall with only three doors. Two on the left and one on the right. I probably look confused, because Jin answers my unspoken question, "The right one is the dorm where we live. It has all of the bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen, and the living room. The other two are studios."

My mouth opens in shock. "You own this whole floor?"

Jimin laughs, "Some of the floors are like this, except for a few. Most of the floors are like normal apartments, but the company put us here. We actually recently moved out of our old dorm because a sasaeng found out and leaked it. This one is a lot better than the old one, though."

I nod. It hurts that one person's ignorance can cause all of them to have to move to a whole different complex. It reminds me of how on edge they were when we arrived, despite there being almost no traffic and not a single person being around. They can never be relaxed outside anymore, even on their way home. It breaks my heart. 

In the middle of my thoughts, Jin opens the door. He motions me to go first, smiling sweetly. I smile back while walking in. The dorm was nothing like I thought it would be.

It's not small in any way, but it's not overly big. The dorm is modestly sized, big enough to house all seven of them comfortably. It looks homey. There is a modern kitchen directly to the right of the door. The countertops are smooth marble, and the appliances are stainless steel. A holder contains cooking utensils. A kitchen island sits across from the stove. It only has five stools, so I assume that they have a separate dining room.

A living room sits in front of me. Two couches and a chair all face a giant flat screen television with a table in the middle and end tables next to the armrests. Some shirts are thrown across the back of the couch. "Seriously guys? Go pick your shirts up. I thought I picked everything up this morning," Hoseok nags. Jungkook and Namjoon run forward and pick up their respective shirts before heading somewhere.

"I'm sorry Alexis." He apologizes.

"It's fine, my family does it too." I laugh. I look to the left and see a hallway with five doors.

Taehyung sees where I'm looking. "Those are our rooms. The one at the end is a bathroom, but there's more on the other side of the dorm." 

Simple decorations are placed around the house. Some aesthetic paintings lay on the wall. Potted plants and vases are placed nicely on the tables. I see a pair of paints on the ground, forgotten in the corner. I smile caringly. 

Namjoon and Jungkook come back in. "What happened?" They see my happy expression.

"I love it. It's beautiful." I say sincerely.

~~~~~

Hey loves!!! It's been a pretty long time since I've had an author's note, so here we go!

I just realized last chapter, how many multilingual readers are here. I wanted to say that, it is awesome! I love learning about my readers.

Also, we reached 60 thousand reads these past two weeks!!! A thank you is never enough. There isn't a word strong enough to say how thankful I am for all of you. This really helps me get the motivation to create this book, because I see how much you like the story.

Thank you! ❤️💜❤️💜