(Y/N) POV:

Inside my head I cursed Eunwoo and promptly started planning his funeral and the endless ways I'd torture him slowly for leaving me in this bind. I turned to see all seven of the guys looking at me with mixed expressions of shock, disbelief and...something akin to anger? Why would they be angry? And surely, they've seen hundreds of the girls at campus throw themselves at them in much, much less, so why be bothered by a sweater of all things? It wasn't exactly lingerie I was posing in that they had to look so dumbfounded for.

"What?" I asked, sudden boldness and slight irritation at the way they stood there silently. It seemed to break them out of their trance and they suddenly fidgeted.

They were a group of seven soulmates before I came along and now they were feeling uncomfortable or shocked by the oversized sweater I was wearing, I knew they had seen each other in plenty less, I had seen my friends in way less.

"Did...did Eunwoo take photos of you dressed like that?" Jungkook tentatively asked, eyes unable to meet my own as he averted his gaze.

I was confused. Was it that big of a deal? My mind started piecing together the expressions and Eunwoo's evil grin and it clicked. They were jealous?

"Yeah...so?" I huffed, pushing my hair off my face and shoulders, letting it tumble down my back. Wrong move apparently. Their gazes snapped to how my shoulders lay bare, the sweater too large to rest on my body.

"I love Eunwoo's clothes." I stated watching with mild amusement as their eyes sharpened and snapped to mine.

"You're free to borrow ours." Namjoon said eagerly and I watched as their faces lit up as they looked to me. Too much unwanted attention. Abort. I needed to leave. I backed up slowly, turning to leave the room when I'd gotten to the door, I was just about to leave when my body suddenly crumpled.

An agonising flash of pain that left me winded, knees buckling as my vision blurred, body hitting the ground with a pained thump. I heard cries of alarm and then a herd of thundering footsteps. I clutched at my right side, a burning sensation that grew with intensity, it felt like I was being burnt alive, flames licking at my skin. I panted, hands clutching my side as though it would disappear from the force of my grip.

I had been ignoring the growing sense of discomfort for the past few hours, I didn't need poor Eunwoo delaying his work even further, he had already gone out his way to come all the way here. The stinging had begun as a small throb, a prickling feeling that only grew with every shot, every outfit change. But I didn't have the heart to break his focus.

I felt them crowd me, the bond thrumming with their close proximity but I couldn't bring myself to ask one of them to touch me, to soothe the pain, had I gained the right to? After running and running and running, did I deserve to have them be my respite, my momentary refuge? Another wave of pain hit me, stronger than the last, one that left me breathless and my head spinning, stomach churning.

"(Y/N), focus on my voice. We're all here." Taehyung's deep voice rang out, soft persuasion lined in his words and my mind started to comply, taking in the low voice that called me.

I tried to focus, tried to even my breathing but my panic only grew when I realised my mind and my body wouldn't cooperate with each other.

"(Y/N), I'm going to touch you....I know you may not want me to but right now we need to help you through this." A voice rang out, one I distantly recalled as Yoongi's before two hands reached out, settling on my shoulders, warmth seeping through the skin to skin contact, slowing the violent churning of my stomach, the waves of dizziness and the dull throbbing that had started at the back of my head.

Soft words were being uttered, low and reassuring and I leaned towards the voice, body curling into the contact as two large hands gently lifted me up, one sliding underneath the back of my knees and the other behind my back.

I felt myself being lifted and carried over before I was gently being lowered into a couch. Two hands returned, gently tugging me into a sitting position and then pulling me backwards to be spooned by a firm chest, a solid presence of warmth.

Soft voices muttering around me going in and out of my ears, some being processed others not.

"I think she may need all of us touching her in some way." Jimin said, voice coming from somewhere above me.

"(Y/N)... is it okay if we touch you?" Hoseok asked, fear laced in his words.

Why were they afraid?

"(Y/N), can you open your eyes please?" Seokjin said. The tone of his voice was so utterly wrecked and hoarse, that I felt an instinct pulling me to reassure, body and current state be damned.

I opened my eyes, sighing when it didn't hurt to do so, blurry figures coming into focus and I looked into Seokjin's warm eyes staring at me with concern.

"I know you're in a lot of pain but we're going to try something okay. We think you need some physical comfort so we're going to touch you briefly." He explained and I didn't have the strength to tell him I was fine, he didn't need to, none of them did.

Tentative hands reached out, my body locking habitually as they placed their hands on my own, two of them gently enclosing mine. A hand rested lightly on my ankle, another on my calf. I felt tingles from where they touched me, a warm fuzzy feeling. A hand came to gently rest on my shoulder, a large warm presence, another cupped my face and I couldn't even stop myself before I gently leaned into the touch, starved for comfort. And then I felt my hair being slowly swept off my neck before a finger, one lone finger came to slowly brush circles into the sensitive skin of my nape. My head fell back slightly, falling into the touch.

Slowly I felt the pain start to dissipate, pain being replaced by a feeling of wholeness, of being complete. My body started to grow heavy, lulled into drowsiness and slowly the feeling of something warm and incredibly soft covering my body.

Soft whispers and a low voice uttering words, as if it were only for my ears to hear.

"Sleep (Y/N). Rest. We'll be here when you wake up." The promise brushing my skin like a soft caress.

I couldn't control how my body slackened in the hold of another, theirs cradling mine close.

"I don't deserve you." I mumbled, lips barely moving to form the words coherently before I slipped into the comforting darkness.

----

A feeling of being trapped, as much as I tried, I couldn't move my body. Couldn't force myself to protect him, frozen even though her control over my mind had been lost. I could only watch with growing horror as she turned, lips falling slightly before its usual sensuous smirk overtook it.

"Honey you're home..." she crooned, ensnaring him into her web of mental manipulation, watching as his eyes lost their focus, glazing over.

I shook my head, leave him alone. It's me who's the problem. Not him. Leave him.

"Baby, your little darling has been very naughty. She deserves a punishment don't you think?" she said, lips grazing the shell of his ear.

I watched as a slither of panic, of consciousness fought its way to the top, fighting for control. Then I saw it. Awareness in his eyes.

"You leave her alone. You've made my life a misery, don't lay a filthy one of your paws on her." he spat before her face snapped into pure rage, features distorted and finally revealing the monster that had always been hiding, skulking around, lurking for opportunities.

"Oh darling, you don't want that. If you go, what'll happen to her?" she whispered, lips mockingly peppering his face with kisses as she pulled him closer.

Her hand rested on the counter, the other languidly tracing the planes of his face as her cruel, vicious red lips made their way to his, forcing themselves together. He struggled but the control over his mind was too strong, his mental wards shattered by the betrayal he was feeling.

I watched with despair as I I begged for my body to cooperate, to move, to do something.

Her lips were still pressed onto his, moving against his own- his forced to comply with the sadistic pleasure of this woman who slowly removed her hand off the counter, a flash of silver before she struck, pressing it tightly into his chest, pulling him close in a lover's embrace whilst he struggled, blade sinking in further, spurts of blood falling onto the tiled floor.

She turned, splatters of blood across her hands and chest as she walked back to me, his body slumping to the ground, eyes desperate and wholly his as he watched me with utter grief, lips mouthing the words 'I'm sorry' over and over again, blood bubbling out.

"Now it's just you and me pet." She smirked before I snapped.

Body still defeated but mind screaming for a burning need to avenge as I threw out my ability to her at full force.

It was like being stuck in time, both of us frozen as I stared at her, fury bubbling and bursting out of me as I screamed. The sound was agony, pain, suffering, but more than that it was an acceptance of the end.

----

JIMIN POV:

We closed the webtoon¸ episode coming to an end as we all sat surrounding (Y/N)'s sleeping figure. I was shocked and I knew I wasn't the only one. Tae was staring at the webtoon, looking like he wanted to reach through the screen and throttle either the stepmother or the writer- whoever fell into his hands first. And Kookie, poor baby looked close to tears, sitting there shocked. The hyungs were also in mixed states of disbelief, horror on their features. I didn't think a webtoon would ever have the power to move us all like that. That something made up could be so heart-breaking, there was nothing more I wanted to do than scoop Dae Hyeon into my arms and tell the little girl it'd all be alright. But she wasn't real, none of this was.

I shook my head, forcefully trying to dislodge the thoughts from my mind. The shocked silence was broken though when Yoongi hyung suddenly spoke up.

"What do you think (Y/N)-ah meant?" he said, words hushed. We looked to stare at him in confusion. What had she said? She was slipping off to sleep when she'd mumbled but none of us could make it out. Apparently hyung had.

"What did she say?"  Kookie piped up, looking grateful for the distraction, focusing on the important matter at hand, our sick soulmate.

"She said she doesn't deserve us." He said, voice dropping with hurt.

My eyes widened. She said that? But I couldn't make sense of why?

"But why...she deserves the world." Tae said looking at her sleeping figure with a sad wistfulness.

"I think we all know that she's hiding something big, a reason why she stayed away all this time. But she can't bring herself to tell us." Namjoon whispered, voice full of dejection.

We all looked at her, right now she seemed so small, so serene as she slept. All her worries and barriers vanishing, she looked younger. When she was awake, her face took on a mature look, as though she had seen the sufferings of the world, experienced them first-hand and lived to see the aftermath.

But what was it? I knew that it was slowly but surely breaking her down from inside, tearing her apart and that we all needed to do something until she shattered. Because I didn't know if she would be able to mentally deal with that if it happened.

Whatever worries we all had, we were snapped out of because (Y/N) began stirring from her curled-up position, slowly unwinding, head slowly lifting from its resting position on her bunched-up hands. Her eyes slowly blinked open, cheeks slightly rosy from sleep as her sweater paws brushed off the hair strands off her face, freezing when she registered that she was nearly on Yoongi hyung's lap. She pulled up the blanket as she rose, sitting upright, hands going to clasp her mouth as she yawned.

My heart melted; it was the most adorable sight. She looked like a kitten getting up from after a nap and I slowly fell for her a bit more. It was a feeling that grew in my heart as I got to see her personality, peeks of it showing through.

It was an intimate close thing, to see someone first thing when they woke up. The fact that we were soulmates made it even more so, I saw her as she truly looked, and I couldn't help the flutters that came with it. The others wearing matching looks of softness in their eyes, including Yoongi hyung who quickly looked away with a smile tugging at his lips.

Suddenly a voice broke the silence.

"(Y/N)...do you know how adorable you are?"

(TA DA! THERE WE HAVE IT! FLUFF. I HOPE IT'S ENOUGH BUT YOU'LL SEE A GRADUAL SLOW CHANGE STARTING TO HAPPEN SOON, WE GOTTA END THE ANGST BUILD UP AT SOME POINT! WHAT DO YOU THINK? ABOUT THE WEBTOON, THE WHOLE CHAPTER, EVERYTHING. I'M STILL TRYING TO THINK WHAT KOOKIE AND JOONIE'S ABILITIES SHOULD BE BUT I'M BEGINNING TO GET AN IDEA, LET'S SEE HOW THAT PLAYS OUT TOO. LET ME KNOW AS USUAL, FEEDBACK AND COMMENTS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED- I LOVE READING THEM ALL AND REPLYING TO ALL OF YOU!! YOU GUYS MAKE MY DAY WITH YOUR SUPPORT! I WANT TO START THE KOREAN LESSONS WITH BTS, I HAD BEEN TRYING BEFORE ON MY OWN USING OTHER RESOURCES, BUT MAYBE THIS WAS THE CALLING I WAS WAITING FOR! ALSO, AFTER ALL THE WORRY I WENT THROUGH ABOUT MY ESSAY, I ALMOST FORGOT TO SUBMIT IT! LUCKILY, I SAW THE TIME AND I HAD TWO HOURS TO OTHERWISE I'D HAVE BEEN TOAST! HMMM...WHAT ELSE? I FEEL LIKE I'M FORGETTING SOMETHING BUT IF IT COMES, I'LL ADD IT LATER! WHERE SHOULD IT GO FROM HERE??)

Stay happy and healthy, take care of yourselves!

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3