The Eight | A BTS Soulmate Fic |

Chapter 98

The restaurant had opened early just for them to be able to eat. There were well over 20 people including staff and band members, all incredibly hungry, that filed into the pub. A few of the tech crew got there early to set up the cameras around the table they were supposed to sit at. The Muse was seated at one end of the table, in between Yoongi and Jimin.

    Both men were attentive, making sure she had her water and made suggestions for her meal,

"Look! That chicken salad looks good." Jimin pointed out, trying to be helpful.

"Hmm. Actually, I was thinking either the Carbonara or the fish n chips." she said, looking at the menu with visions of huge plates of food being set in front of her.

He smiled sweetly, "Yeppeun, I noticed you've put on a few pounds when I was holding you on the plane. Maybe a salad would be better?"

    The Muse turned her head and glared at him so hard he thought lightning might strike him at any moment. He panicked,

"Baby, I just want to help!" his hands came up in a surrender gesture, "I think you look beautiful! But I also know how hard it is to be in the public eye if you've gained even a little bit." A haunted look passed through his eyes, and her glare eased up to a mildly annoyed look.

"Thank you for your input, Jimin. I will have the Carbonara. And a chocolate milkshake."

He reluctantly agreed.

"You look cold, Yeppeun." Yoongi observed quietly, "Do you need touch?"

"No thank you." she answered, pulling her hand out of the sleeve of the hoodies she was wearing to reach for her water.

He sighed as he leaned back and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

Jinnie had been quietly paying attention to their interactions as he looked at his menu,

"Have you decided what you want, Yeppeun?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood on that side of the table as the waitress started taking orders on the other end of the table. She told him what she wanted and he laughed, "Do you want extra whipped cream on that milkshake?"

Jimin shot him a reproachful look.

"Calm down, Jimin-ah." Jin said lightly as he lifted his own glass, "Drink your beer."

They got through their meal with relative ease. Jimin kept offering her some of the salad that was in the middle of the table, but The Muse was content and happy with her garlic bread and noodles. Knowing what he went through on a daily basis with people judging every little part of how he looks, she tried to keep her cool. She was not fat, damnit. Of course he didn't know the rest of it, either. She doubted he'd say another word about her weight when he found out she was growing a human being inside her.

    After lunch they stopped by an outdoor clothing store, picking up necessities they hadn't packed. The Muse was pretty well covered, but Hobi decided she probably needed a hat and some cute socks. She did have a weakness for cute socks.

"Should we get something for Petal while we are here?" Hobi asked in a low voice, "I mean, how often are we going to be able to come to New Zealand."

"Nothing in here really screams 'New Zealand'," she chuckled, "Let's wait. We will find the perfect thing before the trip is done."

"Why are you limiting it to one thing?" Hobi seemed almost offended.

"Limiting what?" Namjoon asked when he wandered into their conversation.

"Yeppeun seems to think we should only buy one thing for Petal while we are on this trip." Hobi rolled his eyes before the both of them started laughing.

Joonie patted her on the shoulder and muttered "just one thing," as he walked away.

    Taehyung heard part of their conversation and moved in behind her, placing his hand on the small of her back "What was that? Are you asking for something, Yeppeun? I can get you whatever you need." Luckily he had no real intention behind the touch, so she was free to move away from him.

"No. I'm good. Thank you." His face fell for a moment before remembering he was surrounded by cameras. Putting his unaffected face back on, Tae wandered around the store, wondering what he was going to have to do to win her back. Didn't she understand that it wasn't their idea? They weren't the ones that wanted to separate from her in the first place. They were going to have to make her understand that. Then she'd be ok. He nodded to himself, thinking he had come up with the wisest way to deal with the situation, and went to find the other husbands to let them in on his grand plan.

    Unfortunately it had to wait. They checked out and went to find the Korean grocery store to stock up for the next couple of days. Joonie was buying a ton of pre packed fresh veggie snacks for The Muse to munch on as they traveled, while Jinnie had her covered with the snacks she really wanted.

    Once they were on the road again, Taehyung took advantage of being in the RV with 2 of the other husbands to tell them his thoughts on the situation, and how he thought they could fix it.

    Hoseok listened to Tae, and was almost in awe at how wrong he had it.

"Taehyung-ah," he said, concern etched on his face, "That's not the problem at all. She knows the managers were pressuring you. She's hurt that the four of you made this decision without even talking to her about it. None of you took her thoughts or feelings into account. You treated her like she doesn't matter. That's a lot of your problem."

Tae cocked his head to the side as he listened to his elder speak, but shook his head in disagreement, "No, Hyung. I'm sure once she knows that it wasn't our fault she will come back to us."

Jimin and Jungkook were unsure of Tae's thoughts on it, but kept their silence. They didn't  have any better ideas  of how to fix it.

"And what do you mean by 'a lot of your problem'?" Tae asked,  "Is there more we don't know about?"

Hoseok took a deep breath while he collected his thoughts,

"Yes, Taehyung-ah. There's plenty you don't know. But it's not up to me to tell you."

He really wanted to tell them they were going to be fathers, but with Yoongi in the other car and the trip just starting, it wasn't the right time.