JIN POV:

I wake to the feeling of my heart twisting itself into vicious knots, the alarm clock telling me that it's the middle of the night, but next to me Jiminie suddenly gasps- lurching upright with a broken cry, sheets falling off his bare torso. His eyes are wide and red and he latches onto me, trembling slightly, breathing heavily. And behind me Joon stiffens, body locking up and his eyes fly open- red and unseeing and it takes a few moments of holding him to bring him to an awareness.

I don't need to ask whether they both can feel it, the sudden heavy force that weighs down the bond, strains it- flooding it with a jumbled, knotted mess of emotions. Something's wrong. Deeply wrong. Together we slide out of bed, holding onto each other for comfort more than necessity, padding out to go check on the others.

A peek into Yoongi's room reveals him hunched protectively  over Hobi's bare form, murmuring to him- voice slightly raspy and hoarse, the curve of his back revealing his tremors. His eyes fly to the doorway, relaxing just a fraction when he sees us but he looks just as confused and lost as we are.

"We'll come back in a bit." I whisper, Joon padding off to Yoongi's inviting, shaky arm, delving into the bed to press himself closely to Yoongi's vacant side.

My hand shakes as I reach out to open Taehyung's door but the house seems to sense the frazzled, haywire nerves and pushes it open, silently sliding it wide open to let us walk in. Taehyungie is trying to wake a crying Kookie, whose eyes are shut and yet tears seep out from shut eyelids, Tae's own eyes burning a bright gleaming red of protectiveness and worry.

Is it him? Kookie who's worrying? Is he dreaming about his past again? I wonder thinking back to nights when we'd all bolt upright, feeling nauseous and shaky and find out that those feelings were pouring out from him in his sleeping state- reliving pained, haunting memories.

But then he gasps, eyes blinking open- tears still trickling down.

"Hyung is everyone okay?" he asks frantically, clutching at Tae who seems as shocked and helpless as Kookie and the rest of us are feeling. Jiminie holds out his hands for them, the two of them quickly scurrying out of bed and into his sides and we all trudge back to Yoongi's room, where Hobi has calmed down but seems to be staring lost, eyes turning to scan us fretfully.

"It's (Y/N)-ah." Joon whispers, and it all makes frightful sense.

The reason why we're all keyed up on instincts, to protect a mate from a danger we can't see, the fact that everyone is shaken and confused- but only because of the feelings thrumming through the bond. And as we all pile onto the bed, curving around each other for comfort, the jumbled mix of emotions starts to vanish from the bond, replaced with a numbing cool feeling.

Was she having a nightmare and went back to sleep now?

But even so, I reach out for Yoongi's phone and try calling her, phone going unanswered- a long ringing that's never answered. So I leave her a voicemail. I tap out a text telling her to call when she sees it, asking her if everything is fine.

Something so wrong is what my instincts are screaming, and the fact that we have an unclaimed mate who we can't even check on at the moment.

"I'll try calling Yugyeomie." Kookie whispers, fingers fumbling with his phone before he presses it to his ear. The clear dejection in his face shows that his phone went unanswered, phone falling limply to the side.

"We can check on her in the morning." I say, trying to inject a semblance of calm, to try bring the others' equally fretting hearts and souls to rest.

But morning doesn't come soon enough. I should know, we all stayed up waiting for it.

----

No-one bothers with breakfast, everyone just hurriedly changes- impatience clear on their faces as we all drive to her apartment. And even as we knock and wait outside her door, it seems like we're too far, that time is being wasted.

But what we don't expect is for the door to open a fraction, just allowing us to see a glimpse of Yugyeom's face- tired and wan. The angle he's holding at makes his intentions clear- he doesn't want us coming in. But right now we need even a glimpse of our baby mate, to see her and know she's fine.

"(Y/N). Where is she?" Jungkookie asks, voice sounding slightly hoarse- laced with panic.

"Inside." He says, voice blunt and emotionless.

Behind him there's the sound of someone shifting, a hand coming to nudge him aside gently.

Jinyoung appears in the doorway, tired but smiling as he looks at us.

"Morning hyung." He says bowing his head in greeting as he focuses on me.

"Jinyoung-ah, (Y/N). We need to see her." I say, desperation seeping into my voice.

His smile drops slightly.

"I'm afraid you can't do that. She's working." He says.

I feel confusion flare through the bond.

"Working?" Jiminie echoes.

"Yeah for her art project she needs to submit. She said she doesn't want to be disturbed." He adds. From next to us Kookie mumbles an 'oh no'.

"She hasn't been answering our calls either." Joon-ah says, voice worried.

There's something that shifts on Jinyoung's face- a shadow that's smoothened out before it can linger.

"I'll get her to call you. She's still looking forward to her date with you hyung, it's why she's working so hard." Jinyoung says, voice light.

But his words abate the worry slightly. Warm me.

If he says she's fine then she is, right? 

"I'm really sorry hyung, why don't you pop back a little earlier than you'd planned tonight?" he suggests.

Yoongi's hand grasps my elbow, guiding me away with a murmur of thanks to Jinyoung.

But as we sink back into the seats in the car, Yoongi's face seems tight and unreadable as he starts the car.

"Sometimes the hardest thing about being mates is that you need to give them the space they want." He says, before driving off.

But my soul can't help but weep with the feeling that our baby mate was left behind, that we left without even seeing her.

(Y/N) POV:

The moment I'm done, the paintbrush clatters onto the covered ground, rolling away slightly. It's done. It's done. And now I can put it behind me and move on. There's no lingering feelings, no pain nor sorrow that stays behind. There's a light floaty feeling of being cut off and separated from the nightmare- as if it only exists within the four sides of the canvas- it can't hurt me, can't breach it either. I feel free.

And now that the painting is ready to dry and be sent off to Ryan oppa, I move from the stiff posture I'd been working in, stretching out and finally moving away from it. I step out of the room, slowly making my way to the living room where there's the quiet murmurs of low conversation- stepping through to see Gyeomie wrapped around Jinyoung oppa, hugging onto him like a leech whilst they talk.

Their eyes dart up and they straighten up, smiling at me.

"Feeling better?" Jinyoung oppa asks.

I nod, even as my eyes stray to Gyeomie.

"Thank you Gyeom-ah." I whisper, voice coming out slightly strained and hoarse- I wince at the gravelly quality to it. His eyes meet mine, soft and sweet and empathetic.

"Always mallow." He says, holding his arms out for me to finally hug him.

I rush gratefully into the hug even as Jinyoung oppa gets up for some reason and it's within the safe cradle of his embrace that I see oppa return, holding a small lilac filled vial. 

"Drink this. It'll restore your energy and do something for that awful headache." He says, pressing it to my lips and tipping it down when I part my lips silently. It takes mere moments for the tonic to work and when it does, I gratefully smile at him, shifting before getting up- even as Gyeomie's arms tighten fractionally around me before releasing his hold.

"I'm gonna shower." I mumble.

"Best get ready for your date, Jin hyung will be here earlier than planned." Jinyoung oppa quips, making me eyes widen with alarm.

Looks like I have a lot of explaining to do. Especially when I see the missed calls and text notifications lighting up my screen, from early in the morning soon after I'd awoken to not too long ago.

----

I open the door to see Jinnie oppa standing there, holding a small bouquet which he holds out to me, smiling at me from over it, eyes darkening slightly as they trail down and then fixate onto my eyes.

Our fingers brush as I take the bouquet, sharp sparks zinging deliciously across my skin and before I can begin to get flustered I dart off to place them in a vase- alongside the others that Joonie sent across as courting gifts.

Jinnie oppa hasn't entered, he's waiting for me and simply holds out his hand for me. I slide my hand into his before calling out to Gyeomie, door shutting with a soft click behind me.

"I can't wait to have you all for myself." He says, voice sweet and eager, but words holding a deeper promise- one that makes my cheeks warm slightly, and a small dart shows me that his smile has stretched out further, he's noticed my reaction.

A night out with Jinnie oppa turns out to be one of the most unique, enjoyable experiences I have of Seoul's nightlife. He takes me to a food street that's enshrouded in strong, old ward magic- a street lit up with lanterns that cast soft colourful light onto the people, stalls and restaurants set up and busy. But as we walk there's no one who strays into our path, somehow the crowd parting easily as Jinnie oppa guides me further and further down, his voice a deep sweet commentary that accompanies it- a commentary of his personal reviews, food jokes and fond memories that he's created with the others.

"And memories I want to create with you too." He leans down to whisper, lips moving and brushing across my ear before pressing a kiss to my cheek- skin burning from where his lips have pressed themselves across the high of my cheek.

His hand comes to snag mine, entangling our fingers as we come to our first stop. A snacks stall where he happily orders a few favourites he wants me to try, holding them out towards my mouth, blowing gently on them to cool them down. I take bites of the food he offers, humming in pleasure at the taste, smiling around my mouthful to reach up to feed him too. His hand goes to snag my wrist, holding my hand there as he leans forward to take a bit, eyes glittering a slight red as he looks at me.

And as we pass from stall to stall, filling our stomachs on different types of foods- a mixture of sweet and savoury, there's this silent tension that grows and grows. And when I've protested and complained that I'll burst if I eat anymore- he just tugs me to a brightly lit ice-cream parlour, ordering before tugging me into a booth. 

As we wait, a silence descends before I break it- the slight tendrils of guilt beginning to wrap themselves around me.

"I'm sorry." I whisper.

His hands that have been playing with mine, marvelling at the size difference and tracing over veins freeze. And he looks up, eyes serious and worried.

"About what?" he asks, voice cautious.

"About this morning. I didn't answer calls or respond to any messages, and I realised you might've felt it through the bond." I say, eyes transfixed to the sight of our hands.

"Sweetheart look at me." he says, urging my eyes to slowly wander up.

"If you want to tell me you can, if you don't then I'll be waiting until you do want to. There's no pressure. We just want what's best for you." he says, voice so earnest and kind that it makes my eyes prick with sudden tears.

"There's some part of me that can get easily stressed, worried about a thought- it rolls around my mind constantly until I can't cope and I need to get it out. Then I paint, stuff for school, stuff for myself." I confide, finding comfort and security in those warm brown eyes. He gives my hands a silent squeeze.

"And when I do that, I don't think about anything else. Can't. So that's why I didn't answer, and I'm sorry for worrying you all." I say, ducking my head into my neck slightly.

And then his hand slips out of one of mine, tilting my jaw back up even as hot thick tears trickle down my cheeks. Large fingers come to brush those tears away, the tenderness of his gesture making them fall in quicker haste.

"Thank you for telling me. You didn't need to but you did. And we like taking care of you, being with you. Don't apologise for dealing with things the way you do. We all want our own escapes." He says, leaning closer- eyes full of empathy.

"Are you feeling better?" he asks, voice warm.

I nod.

"So much better. You make it better too...you have made me feel better." I confess.

Because since learning they were my mates this has been the first nightmare, those thoughts had fled my mind and started to fade away because of them, because of my mates who were slowly and unknowingly healing my soul and aching heart.

"I'm glad." He whispers, tugging my hand so I rise from the seat opposite and slide to his, his arms lifting me to place me on his lap, as he carefully leans forward to brush soft lips to my wet cheeks, lips glistening with my tears- kissing them all away, slowly, taking his time. And then he looks at me with nothing but softness, tenderness.

"So, so glad." He whispers, wet lips coming to press gently against my own.

(THERE YOU GO! HOW WAS IT? SOME INSIGHT INTO THEIR REACTIONS WHICH I KNOW LOTS OF YOU WERE WAITING FOR! AND THE DATE WHICH SHE WASN'T GOING TO CANCEL. THE DATE STARTED SWEET AND ENDED WITH TEARS- BUT JINNIE WILL KISS EVERY TEAR AWAY TO MAKE HER FEEL BETTER! AND THE KISS! I HOPE IT WAS ENJOYABLE TO READ DESPITE THE ANGSTY PRESENCE IT HAD- BECAUSE WE GOTTA HAVE HER HEAL! LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS MY LOVES AND STAY SAFE, TAKE CARE- I LOVE YOU ALL LOTS!)

What matters is the beauty of the heart and soul- the softness, kindness, and sweetness from within. If you have a kind and gentle soul then it'll be able to be felt even from the outside- something that will automatically bring people to you. Just be you- that's all you need to do.

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3