JIMIN POV:

There's a clear shift in the nest that night, a tenseness that hovers heavily over the hyungs save for Hobi hyung- a tightness to their mouths regardless of how many smiles they drudge up, a stiffness to their shoulders- no matter how much they laugh and cuddle us. Something's off and I know without a doubt that it's something to do with the way Joon hyung came home- seeking out comfort when he's usually the one to provide it. Something profound to have shaken up the pillars of support for our coven- and with only Hobi hyung left as the sole pillar, the atmosphere teeters into dangerous territory, where it feels like one wrong move or wrong word could set the ticking time bomb off- and it ends up with all of us hurt in the aftermath.

Jin hyung's eyes are puffy and red- a clear tell that he's been crying and he's fidgeting a lot, as if he can't sit still, constantly shifting uneasily. Joon hyung's dimples have vanished, there's a storm of emotions and thoughts in his eyes, and often I find him zoning out as if his mind is constantly taking him away from the present. And Yoongi hyung...our nest's empath, our lovely soulmate who has never raised his voice, never yelled looks seconds away from bursting- eyes flashing with anger, dishes being put down with more force than necessary, table creaking in protest.

Tae and Kookie had returned home jovial and eyes bright, countenances fresh and I'm glad that they had a good date- that they had been able to spend some time together, but when they step into the kitchen, ready to seat themselves for dinner- their bodies visibly droop under the stifling atmosphere, Kookie's head ducking down nervously- unaccustomed to the thick fog of tension that seeps into every crevice of the room.

His fingers flutter nervously, eyes constantly darting to the doors- fearfully as if ready to escape, and it hurts- because Kookie's past has left him sensitive as a vampire- he doesn't deal well with confrontations and I hope that the hyungs have the sense to not trigger a setback. I don't think anyone could forgive themselves if their behaviour did.

Kookie sidles closer to me, curling up to make himself seem smaller, seeking me out so I can soothe his unsettled emotions, the panic I can feel well up in him. I push out my own love and comfort for him, allow him to experience what I am feeling- allow it to wrap around his heart and soul with all the tenderness of swaddling a baby up. I place my hand on his knee, and soon the nervous jostling stops. He flashes me a soft smile, grateful for helping him.

I just hope whatever it is doesn't blow up. That whatever it is soon fades away and leaves us with our usual ambience. It's been one day and I'm suffocating under the changed mood.

HOBI POV:

I eye the way the maknaes seem uncomfortable, shifting nervously where the three of them sit on one end of the table, picking listlessly at their food. The maknaes who fill the room with their loud exuberant chatter, whose laughs fill the house now hunching over and trying to silently get through the meal. Kookie, our baby with the biggest appetite- his fondness for food always a source of happiness for me, now pushing his food around- very little actually making it to his mouth.

It angers me that the hyungs and Joonie are clearly making dinner uncomfortable for them- there's never been a problem that they allow to affect our personal lives so what's changed? Why are they so distant and vacant? Joonie mindlessly scooping food into his mouth, Yoongi hyung stabbing at his viciously and Jin hyung shuddering as he takes each mouthful- as if it takes considerable effort to keep the food down.

What on earth has happened in the span of less than 24 hours?

The moment the hyungs finish, the maknaes scuttle up to clean the table and quickly vanish up the stairs, Jiminie's soft voice floating down slightly as he ushers his two dongsaengs up the stairs and into his room- small murmurs of comfort being picked up by my ears. And when I hear the click of the door shutting I turn back to face the three of them- frustration bubbling out.

"Yah! Can the three of you stop moping around? You're making it hard to breathe here!" I say, and the hostile and firmness of my tone snaps their heads up, eyes flashing slightly at the confrontational scene that we have somehow shifted into.

I look at each of them in the eyes, unrelenting and unwavering.

"I don't know what's happened but you can't let it affect the nest. Have you even felt how soured and sad the bond is at the moment? You guys are doing that." I say, letting the words sink in, see their faces shift guiltily.

Jin hyung's red-rimmed eyes dart to the door where the maknaes have hastily passed through, mouth twisting down and hand going to rub at his temple. Yoongi hyung looks torn between a mix of anger and worry for our mates. And Joonie looks devastated- as if he's failed them and not even realised it.

"Did you know that Jin hyung met our final mate?" Yoongi hyung grits out, voice stiff.

I see the other two tense.

I glance confusedly at the three of them, even whilst my soul is celebrating and rejoicing at the news.

"That's a good thing though, hyung has been having prophetic dreams about her. He wouldn't stop going on about how sweet and delicate her voice is and how irresistible the allure was- even if he wasn't conscious. Honestly, I'm excited to meet her. What's she like hyung?" I say, wriggling in my seat excitedly- previous anger pushed aside for the moment as I revel in the news.

"It appears that she's bonded with at least one of the Ims...she's the one we all believe is their second nestling." Namjoon says delicately but the miserable tone in his voice doesn't go unnoticed.

My mind immediately flashes to the girl at the mall, the way her small frame had gone tumbling down to the ground, clothes flying and wince recalling the way her body had vanished under clothes and the tall vampire.

The others notice my wince. Yoongi hyung especially.

"She's human too." He adds dejectedly, gripping at his head tightly.

And? I don't see why that is a problem. It's not like Kookie, Tae, Jiminie and I hadn't been humans once. That we hadn't lived mortal lives before we became vampires. So why should that matter? But hyung divulges that information with some sort of expectation for a repulsed reaction.

When it doesn't matter to me at all- we found our last mate, why on earth are they not celebrating?

And then my mind backtracks to the words that have just been said.

"Wait...you said 'appears' to be bonded." I say narrowing down on Joonie's words.

"That means she might not be. How can you be so sure?" I ask, leaning forward to stare at Joonie.

He fidgets under my intense stare.

"Because she had a mating mark on her wrist." He says quietly, as if the knowledge of that has shattered him. His words are like a blow and I reel back from them as if attempting to escape.

She can't be mated if she's our mate- her body and soul would've rejected it, which means there's more to this than what meets the eye.

An just like a puzzle piece sliding into place, it clicks.

"There are other types of bonds you know?" I say, watching as realisation flickers in Jin hyung's eyes and his head droops further down, a flower wilting under the words raining down on him. As if he's realised something.

Joon sucks in a loud breath, eyes widening and fingers gripping the edge of the table tightly- tight enough that the table creaks and protests under the force and strength, and I know he's seconds away from crushing the material.

I tap his fingers gently, until he loosens his grip.

"Hobi we messed up." He gasps, eyes flooding with shame.

But next to him Yoongi hyung doesn't look completely convinced, there's still a hardness to his eyes, a stiffness to his muscles.

Hyung doesn't buy it. But maybe the issue isn't in their mistake...the issue lies in the fact that she's very much mortal. And Yoongi hyung holds a deep resentment and bitterness towards humans.

And I worry that it's the deeply rooted hate that'll push our mate further away from us- I just hope we can convince him otherwise.

Before the image of the human girl who'd laughed even whilst being squished, who'd stepped out unafraid and the girl who had been reeling me in without me realising, vanishes from our lives before she truly every stepped into them.

And no amount of healing could fix the gaping void that the consequences of our actions would leave behind.

And no-one but her would ever be able to fill it.

----

The next time I catch a glimpse of our mate, my heart and soul giddily whisper the term, is when I'm leaving the convenience store a few days later and I see her hurry in, coat-clad shoulders brushing ever so lightly as she rushes in to escape from the cold. I turn back to see her through the windows, the way she bustles around the store with a familiarity, plucking items of their shelves and adding it to her basket, leaning down to pick up a ramen packet that has fallen over and placing it back. I see her shoulders strain slightly against the weight of the ever increasing pile in the basket, until she finally drags it to the counter greeting the cashier with a smile and some friendly words- the softness of her voice seeping out to my ears, which have already been listening to the soft padding of her feet and her little hums as she contemplates which flavour of milk to buy.

It should feel wrong, in principle may actually be wrong to be staring at someone as they shop but even her little quirks and mannerisms demand my attention, have been commandeering it since the moment my body turned to observe her.

I drink in the way she tiptoes to reach a packet on the higher shelves, fingers wriggling until they grasp the packet, the little happy jiggle when she victoriously plucks it and places it in her basket, the way she curves her body inwards to allow a group of high schoolers pass her, the fondness in her eyes as they land on a small toddler tugging on his mother's leg, gesturing to the snack he can't reach, the small ruffling of his hair as she picks it off the shelf and hands it to him. The way she carefully makes a hot drink for herself at the corner, fingers wrapping around it carefully, whilst her arms are laden with the bags. I drink in these small details as if I'm a parched man in the desert.

And when she emerges at the door, I still find myself unable to look away but shift to the side so she can pass.

But I'm surprised when stops in front of me, holding out the cup towards me, small hands proffering the hot chocolate. I stand there gawping for a few moments until she lets out a small huff- the sound amused.

"Excuse me, this is for you." she says and then finally I jolt myself out of the frozen stupor, thanking that vampires don't blush as easily as humans because this small gesture combined with the warmth soft lilt of her voice and the close proximity sends all my senses into overdrive. All I can smell is the heady intoxicating allure of everything that is simply her, making my instincts surge up with an overwhelming need to get close- the word mate echoing in my head. The way her head tilts up to look at me, slightly cocked in confusion. The way when a sudden gust of wind blows, it sends a small shiver through her.

My hands reach out to take the cup, hot under my own cold fingertips, the wisps of steam curling up and rising, threatening to obscure my unhindered view of her.

"Thank you. Though what is it for?" I ask curiously.

"Because you standing out here in the cold made me feel cold. And you looked like you could use a sugar hit." She smiles, lips curving generously upwards, making her cheeks bunch up with the gesture.

I'm glad once again that I can't blush as easily and that it's been enough time since my last feed that the blood doesn't rush to my cheeks.

I didn't realise she had noticed me. Had I been that blatantly obvious in my staring?

"Were you just curious?" she asks softly.

My brows furrow. Curious? She knows?

"About the human girl who made Yoongi's mate upset?" she presses, sadness colouring her own tone.

I shake my head adamantly; I don't want her to get the wrong idea of me. But there's also a happy lurch in me as I realise she recognised me.

"No, not at all. Though I would like to apologise for my mate's behaviour- he had no right to accuse, after all- we don't know the situation fully." I say, dipping my head before shooting her an apologetic look.

Her smile widens, eyes crinkling.

"You don't need to apologise for someone else's doing, though I appreciate you didn't judge- it's nice and refreshing." She says. And I know she's thinking about how Jin hyung reacted- know that it hurt her too.

And I feel my heart pang in sorrow.

"I have to get going now, Yugyeomie needs his snacks." She says wryly, lifting the two laden bags that hang on either wrist.

And when she says goodbye and leaves, my soul aches at her stepping away.

And I pray to whoever controls our fate that our paths cross again, and for a longer time. I want to get to know her.

To know our mate. And to make it right.

(THERE YA GO! EEK- I INTENDED TO HAVE Y/N'S POV TOO BUT HOBI WAS DEMANDING MY ATTENTION AND MOST OF MY SCREENTIME SO HERE YOU GO! NO APOLOGIES THOUGH, COS I FEEL IT'S HELPED US ALL SEE HIS TAKE ON IT AND HOW HE WANTS TO APPROACH GOING FORWARD. CAN WE HAVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR HIM- SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS AND IS ALREADY THINKING OF WAYS TO MAKE YOONGI MELT AND APOLOGISE! LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS! AND THANK YOU SO MUCH! 15K READS AND WE'RE BACK AT NUMBER ONE FOR THE BTSXREADER TAG! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! LOVE YOU LOTS AND STAY SAFE LOVELIES!)

A dream is a wish your heart makes when you're fast asleep, in dreams you will lose your heartaches, whatever you wish for, you keep.

Follow your dreams lovelies! (Jin that's directly for you too!)

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3