Chapter 1
The thunderous claps and high pitched screams filled Jung Hoseok’s ears as the platform beneath his feet begun to lower. The blinding stage lights shut off, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as the crowd disappeared from his eyesight. A staff member stood with a glow stick as they patiently waited for the platform to finish safely lowering the idol beneath the stage. A hand grabbed onto his bicep, pulling him off the platform and through the crowd of preoccupied stagehands. And the further Hoseok was guided away from the stage, the more the sounds of his cheering fans faded.
Every inch of his body was covered in sweat, his breathing rapid as he tried to catch his breath. His muscles were tired and sore as he kept walking towards the backroom, the staff never letting go of his arm. Hoseok let the movements happen as he thought back on the performance they had done that evening. A smile appeared on his face, thinking of the positive response from the crowd. It was well worth how tired he currently felt.
Entering the backroom reserved for the group, Hoseok laid eyes on the couch in the corner. Barely managing to walk by himself as the staff member left to attend to other things, he sat down with a heavy sigh. He tilted his head back against the couch and just sat still as he caught his breath. All he could focus on was his breathing, anything else seemed too much of an effort in that moment. He could hear movement in the room, but his eyes were too heavy to open.
“Water, Hobi Hyung?” Jimin’s sweet voice asked, sounding close.
Hoseok opened his eyes as he felt someone sit down next to him. But the entire room was blurry once he opened them. He couldn’t get his eyesight to focus as hard as he tried to. With a heavy sigh, Hoseok sat forward in his seat. He held his head in his hands that rested upon his knees, closing his eyes once more as he allowed what was about to happen just happen. Part of him tried to resist it, but he was too tired to stay and eventually gave in.
“Hyung?” a voice asked from beside him, yet it was barely audible.
The world seemed so far away, yet at the same time, so close to his reach. He could hear things, feel things, sense things, but just couldn’t quite discern what they were. Right now the world felt like an incomplete painting as he tried to ride out the wave. And slowly the wave came to a halt and his mind became clear of all fog. Opening his eyes to sharper vision, he lifted his head to find a concerned male staring intently at him. He recognised this person to be Park Jimin, one of the band members.
“Hoseok Hyung, are you okay?” Jimin asked as he handed an open water bottle to him.
“I’m fine. Just a little tired,” he said, taking a sip of the offered water.
Except he was anything but fine. For ‘he’ was no longer Hoseok, but one of the alters in the system that was now fronting. His name was Haven; the primary protector. He didn’t exactly remember why he needed to be here, nor could he remember what the body was doing before he came. He felt disgusting from the sweat pouring off his sore body. Haven could put two and two together with how he was feeling along with the environment he was in to deduct they had just finished a concert.
With weary eyes, Jimin stood up and left without another word. Haven leaned back on the couch and silently observed the room he was in. While Hoseok would be tired after performances, it wasn’t normal for him to leave until they were at the very least back at the hotel. Concern begun to grew in Haven as he wondered if something had happened to the other. Had they been triggered? Were they hurt? Was Hoseok okay? He couldn’t help but go into fix it mode.
‘Hoseok was emotionally exhausted and needed a break, so I made him come back,’ a voice calmed the racing thoughts like a silk fabric gliding over soft skin.
‘And you are making me front?’ Haven scoffed as he talked internally, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
‘Are you not the primary protector?’ Key, the Gatekeeper for the system, said disapprovingly. ‘It was either you or Avery. And we all know Avery doesn’t like being in social settings.’
Nodding in understanding at what the other meant, Haven took another sip of the water. He knew that out of the two protectors in the system, he was more suitable for most situations. Unlike Avery he could be thrown into fronting, adapt quickly and carry on as if nothing had happened. Avery tended to be more withdrawn because she held most of the trauma right now, only coming out when the body needed emotional protection from external forces. She was the strongest one for that job.
“Hoseok? Are you okay?” Yoongi asked as he stood beside the man who was staring off into the distance with glazed over eyes.
Hearing that name again, Haven turned his head and looked up to the man he knew as Min Yoongi. He didn’t have time to hear the words that were spoken as Key had been talking to him. He cursed the other for being co-conscious and told him that he could deal with everything alone now that he knew Hoseok was okay. His vision blurred for a few seconds, the world becoming distant as he felt Key leaving. Haven focused on the man standing in front of him and smiled politely.
“Sorry, what did you say, Yoongi Hyung?” he asked with a laugh, taking a sip of the water.
“I asked if you are okay,” said Yoongi in a flat tone, not giving away his worry.
“Oh yeah,” Haven rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’m just tired, Hyung. Don’t worry about me.”
Haven watched as Yoongi stared at him with a small frown. He smiled wider at the older, hoping he wouldn’t ask anymore questions. And thankfully he didn’t. Yoongi turned and walked away to get changed into more comfortable clothing. Seeing that he was now alone in the room, Haven flopped his head back against the couch. When he first fronted, he didn’t realise he was co-conscious the whole time. And as soon as the body started dissociating while Key left, he felt the tiredness grow from all of the mental effort it took to regain his senses. Let alone having to talk straight afterwards with Yoongi. He just wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep right then and there.
Bright lights flashed passed as Haven sat quietly in the car, eyes trained on the passing buildings outside of the window. The full car was bustling with noise. Yet Haven payed it no attention as he focused on breathing. He could feel another presence lingering close by and knew he might be switching with someone else. But he hoped he could just hold on until they were out of the car since he and the others hated switching near other people. His thoughts became harder to hold onto as the seconds passed.
Closing his eyes and bending his head down so his hair hid his face, Haven couldn’t hold it off any longer as the presence became too strong. All of the noise from the other occupants in the car turned from clear to muffled. The rocking of the car on the bumpy road became rather soothing as Haven slipped away to allow someone else to take over. The body felt strange as Dal opened his eyes. He knew the body was too big for his age, the different proportions unsettling as he adjusted in his seat.
“Are you okay?” a deep and husky voice asked, startling him.
Jerking his head up, Dal looked at the stranger sitting beside him in the dimly lit car. He couldn’t remember how he got here, nor who he was with. But he felt safe beside the worried looking man. He latched onto his arm, finding it firm and warm as he rested his head upon the shoulder. His eyes roamed the vehicle he was travelling in, a little frightened at how many people were with him. He heard a chuckle from the man he was holding and looked up at him with confusion.
“What are you doing, Hoseok Hyung?” the stranger giggled, drawing attention to the two of them in the back.
Before Dal could answer him, a long yawn overtook his body. Any of the others that were looking at him couldn’t help but yawn as well. A chorus of yawns followed by laughing ran through the car. Dal laughed as he settled into his seat further, using the warm man beside him as a pillow. He smelt nice, and had a relaxing voice. A sense of security was enticing his sore and tired body towards the stranger, as much as he tried to keep his eyes open.
“Tired,” muttered Dal with a small pout.
“It’s okay, Hyung,” the stranger soothed, patting his head softly which only made Dal smile. “Rest well. You worked hard today.”
His eyes closed slowly as he wondered what he had done today. He wished he could remember, but he didn’t mind. Dal snuggled up to the stranger and allowed the rocking car to help send him to sleep. What he didn’t see were the concerned looks shot at him as he continued sleeping the rest of the car ride. Nor did he hear the whispers regarding him from all of the other members. Dal was blissfully unaware of it all as he stayed clutched to the firm arm in his grip.
A hand grabbed his shoulders and shook him awake. Haven looked around, ready to protect the body from whatever threat was present. But he was met with two brown eyes filled with concern instead. He looked at Kim Taehyung with confusion. He didn’t remember falling asleep, he did remember dissociating though. He looked out the window to see they were pulling up at the hotel, meaning he had either slept or dissociated for quite some time. He didn’t miss the looks the others threw his way upon him waking up either.
“Rest well?” chuckled Taehyung beside him. “Was I comfortable enough for your liking?”
“Mmm, yeah. Thank you. I was really tired,” he yawned, concerned why the body was this tired.
As the car slowly pulled up to the back of the hotel, Haven couldn’t help but wonder what was happening. Perhaps it had something to do with how many times they had dissociated and switched today. Well, not even today, but especially the last few hours since the show ended. This was the forth time they had dissociated, each time becoming more exhausting than the last time. The system hadn’t done this in a while, not needing to rely on each other since having more stability in their life.
The rest of the group started to get out of the car, flashes from cameras beginning immediately. He took a deep breath as his turn was coming closer. While Haven had fronted in public before, and in front of paparazzi, he didn’t particularly like when he did. The flashes of lights always sent him into hyper attentiveness. His protector instincts on the look out for any dangers amongst the crowd. Stepping out of the car, he quickly followed the group inside into the safety of the building.
As soon as the doors to the back of the hotel closed and the noise drastically dimmed, Haven breathed a sigh of relief for getting through that safely. Not that the body guards wouldn’t have not stepped in. He quietly followed the group to wait near the elevators, consumed by his thoughts. Or what he thought were his thoughts. He was thinking back on the theory that something had happened for them to start dissociating and switching so often, when an answer came clearly to him.
’That guy in the very front of the crowd tonight,′ a familiar voice whispered in the back of his mind. ‘He looked like you-know-who.’
‘Does Key not trust me to front by myself tonight?’ Haven chuckled and rolled his eyes, stopping when he saw his members looking at him curiously.
‘It was a big trigger,’ Arlo continued to whisper.
‘Arlo, why are you whispering? No one can hear you,’ he said, rolling his eyes once more.
‘Because Dal is asleep and I don’t want to wake him. He was terrified during that car ride,’ he whispered.
“What?” he exclaimed loudly, pausing as soon as he realised he had said it out loud.
“Hoseok? What’s wrong?” he recognised Kim Seokjin asking, all eyes on him.
“N-Nothing,” he tried to cover up quickly. “I really need to go to bed. I’m sorry.”
“Well lucky the elevator is here then,” the oldest member laughed as the ding rang through the quiet hotel lobby.
“Aish, so cheesy Hyung,” whined the Maknae of the group as they tiredly crammed into the elevator.
‘That was a close call,’ Arlo whispered.
‘I know, I blame Key for putting us into co-conscious,’ Haven sighed, exhausted from the events of today.
‘I was talking about waking Dal, you idiot,’ Arlo whispered harshly.
‘Yah, don’t you care we almost exposed ourselves?’ he reprimanded the Caretaker.
“No,” Arlo said stubbornly.
“Well you should,” Haven said, closing his eyes and missing the concerned looks. ‘I can’t believe Dal was around the others in the car. How did he not get us revealed? He is a little for goodness sakes!’
‘I think it was lucky the body was so tired when he fronted. He went to sleep pretty much straight away,’ Arlo continued whispering.
“Still, that was a close call,” muttered Haven, opening his eyes as the elevator came to a stop. “Too close.”
‘Mmmmmm, I agree,’ hummed Arlo quietly.
The body moved towards their room on autopilot, sore muscles protesting even though they were so close. But something didn’t seem right. It was too quiet in the hallway. Haven turned around to find all of his members standing just outside of the elevator, staring at him with confusion. He stared back at them just as confused. He was about to ask what was going on when Arlo answered for him.
‘We talked out loud,’ he said quietly, fear laced in his voice.
“Ah, Hoseok Hyung, come talk with me for a bit,” Namjoon pushed through the group and walked up to his room silently. Holding the door open, he looked at the group, “Just go rest, don’t worry about Hoseok Hyung. He’ll be fine with me.”
As Haven begun moving into the open doorway, he felt the world slowly slip from his grasp. He tried hard to grab it tightly, not wanting anyone else to deal with this mess that was sure to ensue. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Haven became a little more grounded in his surroundings as he was manoeuvred further into the room. He could no longer sense Arlo, meaning he had left to go take care of the system while he dealt with this problem. Numbly sitting on the bed, he tried to focus his eyes on Namjoon who sat beside him.
The air felt suffocating as he forced himself to fully front, shaking off the lasting effects of yet again dissociating. Haven stared at Namjoon, wondering what he was thinking. He, himself, was preparing for any possible scenario and getting ready to protect the system at all costs. They had gone so long without any slips that hinted at their existence. Why tonight? Why did they have to be so triggered on top of being emotionally and physically drained? Tonight was not a good night.
“Hoseok Hyung,” Namjoon started, looking into his eyes softly. “Is something going on that you haven’t told us about? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine! I’m fine,” he said a little too quickly.
“I don’t believe that,” he continued wearily. “I’ve noticed some things out of the ordinary lately. So has the rest of the group. Want to tell me what’s happening?”
“No,” Haven said, looking away tiredly. “Nothing is happening, so there is nothing to tell you about.”
“You were talking to yourself tonight,” he said slowly, careful of his wording. “Not just the normal talking to yourself kind, Hyung. You were having parts of a conversation out loud in front of us all.”
“I was just thinking out loud,” Haven said as the room went in and out of focus, his thoughts scattering. “I swear.... That I am.... I am okay, Namjoon.”
“You don’t seem it, just breathe,” Namjoon immediately stopped to comfort the other with a hand on his shoulder.
“I am,” Haven tried to hold on as tightly as he could, but the world seemed to grow distant out of his control.
Taking a few deep breaths, Avery steadied herself as she looked around the room. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at the man beside her and instantly remembered why she took over. She needed to step in because this was becoming too emotionally distressing for the system. She needed to shut it down or take full responsibility on how the rest of the conversation plays out. Shifting away from him, she played with her hands nervously as she tried to think what Haven was trying to say before she took over.
“Fine,” she said, looking at a worried looking Namjoon. “I am fine.”
“Hoseok Hyung, please stop trying to hide this from me. I know you are not fine,” he said, observing the change in attitude. “You seem different. You seem like you are struggling with something. You can tell me. You know you are safe with me.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about, Namjoon,” Avery said, turning her head away in a show of refusing to acknowledge him.
“Hoseok, I’m serious, you don’t need to be strong by yourself. Let others help you. Let me help you. What is happening? What are you struggling with?” he tentatively reached out a hand and stroked comforting circles on the other’s lower back.
Avery could feel the tears start to form in her eyes as she refused to turn her head towards him. There was no way she was going to let this one weak moment ruin everything for the system. She felt useless. She couldn’t front earlier to save Hoseok from seeing that man. She couldn’t keep Dal at bay. She couldn’t be there instead of Haven from the start. Key sees her as weak. And she agrees with him. But she needs to put aside herself for once and think of the system.
“You aren’t alone, Hoseok Hyung. I’m right here,” he said with a soft voice, placing his other hand on Hoseok’s leg and squeezing it gently.
“It’s not fair. I’m meant to be the strong one. I’m meant to be the strong one for them. And here I am crying, not able to keep it together,” Avery burst out crying, folding in on herself. “It’s not fair. Why me?”
Silence followed the two as Avery cried and muttered things to herself while Namjoon listened carefully to what she was saying. Unbeknownst to Avery, Namjoon was currently working on a theory in his head, sorting through facts and examples at the speed of light. The comforting hands was withdrawn, pulling her out of her self-pity party for one. She sobered up, cleaning her face with her shirt.
“S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to, you know?” she tried to explain in a whisper.
“You said you are meant to be the strong one,” he said slowly, looking at Hoseok’s face to observe the reaction. “What’s your name?”
“I-,” freezing, Avery tried to process what had just been said.
“I’ll introduce myself first to make you more comfortable,” he said after knowing he was spot on. “My name is Kim Namjoo-.”
“You are Kim Namjoon, fourth eldest and leader of our group BTS. I already know who you are,” she cut him off with shame laced throughout her voice, essentially admitting he was right.
“You have been around for a little longer than I thought then,” he chuckled, extending his hand with a big smile on his face. “And you are?”
“A-Avery,” she stuttered, shaking the hand with a blush on her face. “How did you know that we... That we had... Uh.”
“That you might have DID?” he finished for her. “Well, Avery, it is 2021 and more people are becoming aware of what Dissociative Identity Disorder is. And I happen to have read some articles exploring what is known about it. I linked a few things you all have said and done recently to it, but I didn’t want to voice my opinions until I was sure.”
“They have told me you were smart,” she said in a whisper. “But I didn’t believe them.”
“May I ask who ‘they’ are and if I have met them yet?” Namjoon smiled kindly, glad to see Avery no longer crying.
“We have Hoseok, he is host,” she said with a small smile, glad the crisis was safely averted. “Haven, who you were speaking to before. He is our other Protector alongside me. Then we have Key who is our Gatekeeper. You will probably never meet him. Um, oh! Arlo is our Caretaker. Haven and him were the ones talking in the elevator. And Dal is our little. Dal came out in the car tonight.”
“I must apologise if I don’t recognise you guys when you front,” he smiled, relaxing by taking off his heavy coat. “It’ll take some time to get to know each of you. And if you have any tips for me with helping when Dal is out, let me know. I’m sure Arlo can tell me being the caretaker of the system, right?”
“Y-Yeah,” Avery was speechless. “Wow, you really are so smart, Namjoonie Oppa.”
“Oppa?” he asked in surprise.
“I’m younger than you, technically, in our system. But our body is older. I-I should have asked, and uh, oh no what if you are uncomfortable with being called oppa. I’m sorry, Namjoon, I-” Avery spoke quickly, ashamed of her mistake.
“Hey, Avery, it’s okay,” he tried to soothe her. “I was taken aback, but I guess it makes sense if you are younger. I am more than happy to be called that. It’s nice to know you trust me enough to even tell me all of this.”
Avery smiled up at him in relief. She never would have thought that this was how the night would turn out. Part of her was glad it was Namjoon, and not any of the other members. Her heart started to beat once more as she thought of the rest of the group. How were they going to react? Were they going to be accepting? No, they couldn’t know anything. No, she wouldn’t let it happen if it was the last thing she did.
A few days had passed since the last night of their concert. The group had been wondering what happened between Hoseok and Namjoon, since the two have been very close and secretive ever since. Currently, the entire group sat in one of BigHit Entertainment’s board meeting rooms. The air tense with anticipation as they waited for something to be said. Hoseok kept his eyes downcast, feeling the questioning eyes on him constantly.
“Does anyone know what DID is?” Namjoon asked, drawing the attention of the room to himself.
“Dissociative Identity Disorder? Yeah, I know a little bit about it,” Jin said after no one else spoke up.
“I have a little knowledge, but I don’t know that much about it,” said Yoongi with thought.
The three youngest members of the group shook their heads in confusion. Sure they may have heard the term, but they knew nothing about the disorder. Namjoon wasn’t entirely surprised, considering the three of them are not as into researching topics, reading new innovative medical studies, and learning about mental health awareness as the older members were. He paused to collect his thoughts briefly.
“DID is when a person, most often when faced with traumatic situations as a child, splits themselves into multiple alters to help cope with whatever they are going through. They then take these different alters into adulthood. Sometimes people are aware they have it. And sometimes they aren’t aware. It’s important that you understand that a person with DID can have triggers around certain things because of their trauma. This can cause them to dissociate in the middle of something to an alter that is better equipped at handling the situation at hand,” Namjoon said, finally taking a big breath in to let all of the information sink in.
“Hyung, why are you telling us this?” Jungkook asked after a few minutes of silence.
Hoseok’s heart beat furiously in his chest as he tried to battle away the blush that threatened to rise. Namjoon had assured him that no matter what, he would always have his support. But he truly was nervous about this being discussed. He didn’t know what the others thought about it. He tuned back in just as Namjoon begun to speak again.
“I thought it would be important to talk about it becaus-” he got cut off.
“Because I have DID,” Hoseok suddenly blurted, face red and tears in his eyes.
The entire room was silent as they took in the information they had been presented with. Seeing the other close to tears, Namjoon reached forwards and held his hands in comfort. Offering a small smile, the two looked around the room at the mixed reactions. Hoseok saw the concern on Yoongi’s face, the amazement on Jin’s, confusion and disbelief from the younger three.
“You are brave,” Jin whispered, standing up and walking to stand behind Hoseok’s chair. Engulfing him in a hug, he whispered, “I love you no matter what.”
Tears streamed down his face as he leant back into the hug, grabbing onto the arm around him to make sure he was really there. Hoseok couldn’t help but let out a shaky breath. Jin stayed where he was and motioned for the others to join them. Soon Hoseok was in the middle of a group hug, smiling at the support from them all. Happy tears flowed down his smiling face, nothing could have prepared him from the overwhelming surge of love he felt.
“I love you all,” he whispered out shakily.
“And we love you, all of you,” Yoongi whispered with a shaky breath as well.
The group slowly let go of one another, wiping the tears from Hoseok’s face as well as their own. They sat around the table as a stronger, more united force. Nothing could break them. Nothing could break their bond. Nothing could stop them from loving each other unconditionally. They spent a few hours in that room, much to the surprise of the staff, just talking and asking questions. Each member made sure Hoseok and his system knew that they were all there for him, no matter what.
Music stopped blasting through the speakers as Hoseok, Jimin and Jungkook collapsed to the ground breathlessly. Sweat pouring from each pore on their poor bodies. The trio had been working tirelessly on the new choreography for their upcoming comeback. It had been months since their last tour where Hoseok was finally able to tell them the secret he had kept for over several years. Life had been so much easier on him since that fateful day in the board meeting room.
“One more time?” Hoseok asked as he slowly got up. “No, it’s time to rest.”
“Who was that?” Jungkook asked with a smile as he turned his head to look at the older. “Because I agree with the second thing you said.”
“Arlo,” he said breathlessly, body falling back to the ground. “He says the body needs to rest. But we have all the time to rest after one more practice.”
“Listen to him, come sit over here with me for a bit, Hyung,” whined Jimin, holding his arms out for the other tiredly.
Hoseok couldn’t say no to the younger two, and crawled over to where Jimin sat next to the sprawled out Jungkook. Sitting crossed legged in front of Jimin, he sighed as he rolled his shoulders. Kind of glad he was taking a break.
“Told you, but you never listen” Arlo said out of nowhere. “Idiot.”
“Hyung, I’m sorry, but I agree with Arlo,” Jimin laughed as he shuffled into the older’s lap, hanging his arms around his neck and wrapping his legs around the other’s waist. “You can be an idiot sometimes with practice.”
“Aish, that’s no way to speak to your Hyung, Jiminie,” Hoseok pouted, closing his eyes as soft fingers ran gently through his hair.
Instantly relaxing at the touch, Hoseok sighed and held Jimin in position on his lap so he couldn’t escape. After such a long day of practicing, the touch was welcomed with open arms. His head fell forward slowly, eyes heavy. The world disappeared except for the hands playing with his hair. A chuckle brought his attention back to the present moment, only for Haven to be sitting with a human on his lap. Specifically Park Jimin on his lap. He looked confused at the two as they laughed at him.
“What are you doing on my lap?” Haven asked, noticing they were alone in the dance rooms.
“We were taking a break,” Jungkook laughed.
“Gives us Hoseok back,” laughed Jimin, still playing with the other’s hair. “Or not. I could use an early finish.”
“Why am I here? The body feels fine. Nothing is in need of urgent attention. Do you know?” Haven asked with half opened eyes, loving the hands in his hair.
“I think perhaps we finally found your happy trigger,” whispered Jimin, seeing the content look on the normally stressed face.
“That took longer than we thought it would,” said Jungkook, breathing back under control. “But I’m glad we found it.”
“What is it?” he asked, so distracted.
“Playing with your hair, gently rubbing it,” Jimin whispered because he didn’t want to disturb the peaceful look on the other’s face.
“Mmmm,” he hummed, closing his eyes, leaning forwards and resting his head on Jimin’s shoulder.
Jimin and Jungkook chuckled at the sight, excited to share this information with the rest of the group. The three sat in silence as Jimin continued to play with the soft hair, milking it for as long as they could. It wasn’t as if they weren’t prepared for the choreography. They were on top of it like the kings of dance they were. The two younger enjoyed the break, giving their tired bodies a rest. While Haven slipped blissfully into heaven.
Namjoon, Yoongi and Hoseok lost track of how long they had been cooped up in the production suite. All they knew is that they wouldn’t be able to get much more done before they called it quits at his rate. Hoseok was in the booth, recording yet another take of the same verse for the umpteenth time that day. He spat out the verse with precision and his usual passion despite feeling the exact opposite. His eyes grew heavy as Namjoon gave him the thumbs up.
Walking out of the booth, he sat down tiredly on the couch next to Yoongi. They sat in silence as Namjoon played around with a couple of the takes, editing them into the progress version of their latest song. The room started to become blurred as Hoseok felt someone lingering nearby. He wondered who it was, not able to tell with how tired he was. He allowed the person to front, ready for a small break.
Opening his eyes, Dal looked around the room with childlike wonderment, suddenly the body was full of energy. He got up and walked around, looking at all of the cool instruments laying about. His eyes landed on a yawning Yoongi, one of his favourite people to play with. He quickly sat next to the older and poked his puffy cheek. Cold, tired eyes looked at him before knocking the offending hand away.
“Yoooooongggiiiiii Hyung, I missed you,” Dal whined with a smile, catching the attention of the other two. “Did you miss me?”
“What is little Moonie doing here instead of Hoseok?” Yoongi asked with a sigh as he hugged the other.
“I came to play with you, Yoongi Hyung,” Dal smiled, a slight bounce as he happily looked around. “This place is cool. Can I come here more?”
“This is where we work,” Namjoon turned around on his chair and smiled at the two cuddling on the couch. “Maybe you can come another day. Is Hoseok Hyung coming back?”
“Nope! I’m here to play, remember!” Dal smiled playfully, resting his head on Yoongi’s lap and lying down on the couch.
“Get off me, little brat,” Yoongi said, shoving the offending head slightly.
“No way,” whined Dal. “Yoongi Hyung is so comfortable.”
“I am not a pillow, get off of me,” he said again, crossing his arms.
“So grumpy,” he laughed. “Grumpy Yoongi Hyung is my favourite Yoongi Hyung.”
“You are a brat,” Yoongi said before standing up abruptly as Namjoon tried to hold in his laugh. “Yah!”
“Come back, Yoongi Hyung!” Dal grabbed him around the waist and easily pulled the smaller framed man back down.
“I think we should go home and have dinner,” Namjoon said, pulling his phone out. “I’m sure everyone else is hungry. Let’s get ready to go.”
While Namjoon messaged the rest of the group to make sure they would be home, Yoongi helped Dal pack up everything. He made sure that Dal put on his coat, knowing it would be cold outside, despite the other not wanting to wear it. Namjoon made sure to save all of their work and back it up to three places before they left. Walking down the street, they stopped into their favourite take out, waiting patiently for it to be made fresh. Dal kept annoying Yoongi the entire way home, happy he was with his favourite person.
Getting home to their shared dorm, the three entered with bags of delicious smelling food. Namjoon ordered Dal to go get changed and wash up before eating, and the other complied reluctantly. When he came rushing back into the kitchen with a hungry stomach, Jin immediately started piling up his plate with food.
“Did my Moonie have a good day today?” Jin asked with a big smile after he finished.
“I’m not yours, Jin Hyung,” he pouted, crossing his arms as everyone chuckled at him.
“Then who do you belong to, little one?” Jin laughed, holding his hands up in defence as he begun to eat his own food.
“Yoongi Hyung of course,” Dal smiled, flashing his puppy dog eyes at the older that was sitting beside him.
Choking on a piece of food, Yoongi got up from the table and grabbed himself a cup of cold water. The entire group, except for Dal and Yoongi, were in tears, laughing at what had happened. Yoongi sat back down and avoided all eye contact as he finished eating dinner. The group stayed away from the topic to save him from more embarrassment.
After cleaning up after themselves, the group sat down around the living room and placed a movie on the tv. Dal grew tired with the warm food in his stomach and sitting on a comfortable couch. Looking around with eyes half open, he noticed he was sitting next to Yoongi. Smiling softly, he didn’t hesitate as he laid down with his head landing softly in the other’s lap.
“Aye get off me brat,” Yoongi protested again.
“Leave him be you meanie, he’s tired,” cooed Jin as the entire group looked at the tired face.
Dal reached out blindly with his hand until he was softly holding Yoongi’s hand in his own. He smiled as he slowly drifted into a peaceful sleep. The entire group soon abandoned the movie as they watched the tired boy sleep finally. They were glad to see him happy and content, even Yoongi was secretly glad as he gently rubbed his thumb along the soft skin of the hand that was holding his.
“Who would have guessed what hid behind that beautiful smile,” Taehyung whispered as he reached out and brushed some hair out of the sleeping person’s face, the entire group nodding in sad agreement.
