The Eight | A BTS Soulmate Fic |

Chapter 88

Chuseok was, in a word, delicious. Namjoon was distracted most of the time, and getting his family members to serve The Muse seconds, thirds and even elevensies was easy. The food coma was hard to avoid afterward though, and she wasn't the only one asleep on the couch by the end of the feast. Moni had even joined in on nap time, getting as much of himself onto her lap as he could comfortably before the doggy snores filled the room.

    In the days following, Joon took her to museums around Seoul. It was fun to get out and have him explain what he saw in certain pieces. He tried to get her opinions, but she didn't have much to share other than "I like that one. It's pretty." He would just roll his eyes good naturedly and move on to the next piece.

    Steve's patience had run out with her Warriors repeatedly not telling him when they were going out in public, and they had all endured a talking to from not only him, but the higher ups at the company as well. That meant that he was a new addition to their outings. The Muse hoped that he would get more comfortable with having her out in public and she would be able to venture out when they were on tour. Of course, that also had a lot to do with her husbands and Warriors.

     Her Warriors were finally opening their eyes and started to rally for her to have the freedoms they did. The baby did put a little bit of a challenge into it, but for the time being the bump was still small enough to hide. It wouldn't be too long before they wouldn't be able to hide it anymore, though. She thought they'd be lucky to get through the New Zealand trip without anyone noticing.

     She was in a bookstore with Namjoon and Steve, perusing the shelves with nothing in particular in mind when she heard a couple of girls gossiping on the other side of the shelf,

"Did you hear about Jungkook?"

"No? What's happened?"
"They say he went to get a tattoo today and then went on a date with another woman!"

"Wait? I thought he was one of the husbands?"
"I thought so, too. But I don't think he'd cheat on his wife. He must not be a husband. But that means..."

     The Muse tuned out the rest. A throb of pain went through her whole body. He went on a date with another woman? That's it then. She really wasn't good enough. He didn't want her, and was trying to move on.

She was shaking. Lost in her own head. Namjoon had rushed to her when he felt her pulse of pain and had her wrapped protectively in his arms as Steve relayed what they had heard through the bookcase.

    They quickly left and Steve drove them back to the apartment with Namjoon fielding calls from Hobi and Jinnie to find out what had happened. They had each tried to connect with her to make sure she and Petal were ok, but she had gone eerily silent, all she would say was "We're fine."

    It felt as though she'd gone numb. She felt nothing.

Namjoon told her that Hoseok had spoken to Jungkook and found out what had really happened, It wasn't really a date. They were just friends.

    She still felt nothing. Blank.

She was cold, and she needed touch, but she really wanted to be alone and asleep.

Namjoon let her be, knowing full well she needed touch and planned to sneak in to hold her after she fell asleep.

    It was like he had been waiting for her. As soon as the dream started, Jungkook was there. His face was sad and worried. He ran for her and wrapped his arms around her as if he never wanted to let her go. "I'm so sorry, nae sarang. I never want to hurt you. You are my everything."

But even in the dream she felt blank. She let him hold her, but didn't hold him back as she always had in her dreams. She let him kiss her, but didn't kiss him back as she always had.

He felt it, too. Pleading with her to forgive him for all the wrongs he had done. For leaving her when he didn't want to. For going to lunch with a friend. For not being there for her as a husband should be.

The Muse just nodded, hearing his words but knowing that actions counted far more than words ever would.

    There were no tears when she woke this time. The heat from Namjoon's body was a comfort as he read Korean folklore to Petal.

    Walking the flower path, she let the love and happiness she always felt there take her. She couldn't be happy, herself, at the moment, but she could feel her Petal. Her perfect little girl. She was so sweet in her little garden, listening to Uncle Joonie tell stories.

The Muse felt hot tears running down her face as she watched her baby. She just wanted to hold her right then. Hold her, and love on her and kiss her and sing her songs and tell her how perfect and loved she was. Even in her swirl of emotions, The Muse felt that Petal already knew how loved she was. How special she was to so many people.

The Muse felt Namjoon go still a moment before he collected her into his arms, whispering soothing words and warming her from the inside out.

It would all be ok. One day, it would all come together like Sejong said it would.

She needed to stop thinking so long term. In truth, she needed to concentrate on what was directly ahead of them, and that was a trip to New Zealand in close quarters with all of her husbands as she tried to hide the pregnancy until the last possible moment. She wasn't sure exactly how she was going to do that, with needing so much more touch on a daily basis. Add in extra long flights that kick her butt and she's going to have to be touching someone at all times. She did hear there were going to be a lot of snack stops. So that's a positive, plus it was still winter there, and that meant big, warm clothing. That would go a long way in hiding the bump from her husbands. She wanted to feel bad for hiding it from them, but she'd given them two months worth of chances to open the envelope. It was on them now.