You spent the entire night before Jin’s birthday riding all the rollercoasters with Jungkook and Jin, while your other soulmates were content to watch from the ground with soft smiles on their lips as they watched you bond with the two over your adrenaline junkie like tendencies, Jungkook especially.

Then, your morning consisted of very little sleep, all cuddled together on your shared bed with Jin and Yoongi, before having to get up for rehearsal and soundcheck again. 

This time, however, you did not attend either.

 “I’m sleeping right here.” You proceeded to point to the small two seater in their dressing room before promptly dropping yourself and your (Jimin’s) blanket onto the furniture, backpack and all following you as you flop.

You didn’t care, curling up and falling asleep as soon as your head hit the surprisingly soft cushion. Two hours of sleep was simply not enough for you and you knew you would need it. 

And you did need it because the concert was, again, overstimulating. You sat in the box with Hobi’s family and Jungkook’s family who had flown out for the second night. You had your headphones and at one point, managed to relax enough to dance and sing along a little to the boys as they had fun on stage.

You didn’t even know they had invited Megan the Stallion to perform with them, a huge surprise to all army that night. 

Once the concert was done, you and the boys had taken tons of pictures with her and you watched as the boys made some tiktoks with her for her feature on Butter.

You weren’t comfortable being in any of them just yet, despite the offer. While the night was overstimulating again, you did have more fun than the previous night and maybe thought you could get used to going to concerts in the future. 

After another live, you spent the rest of the night singing Happy Birthday to your eldest soulmate and cuddling in the living room with him and the rest of your soulgroup watching movies Jin had picked out while you snacked on the cake Jimin and Taehyung had picked out with the help (read supervision of Hobi) earlier today between soundcheck and the concert to be delivered to the hotel. 

Those two days of filled events led you to being in your current predicament, being held to Jimin’s chest as you were wrapped in his blanket. You weren’t nonverbal, nor overstimulated, but you felt off and that was enough for your soulmate to decide to bundle you up and hold you. He had won rock, paper, scissors, even though you were already in his blanket, which left your other, pouty soulmates to be left to their own devices. 

Jungkook had made some food, more than enough for him and whoever else trickled in at the smell. Taehyung had just plopped right next to you, throwing an arm around your waist as you laid against Jimin, his other arm resting against your back as he surfed through social media. 

You were unsure of where Yoongi and Hobi went to, but you vaguely remember hearing the hotel door open and close. Namjoon and Jin were in the kitchen area with Jungkook, talking about another interview show and the Jingle Bell Ball they had been invited to perform at.

It had already been decided that you would stay home for that, though. You had actually requested it, not feeling mentally up to going to another event so close after the concerts and you’ve just had a very crazy last couple weeks to say the least. 

You were perfectly content to lounge on the couch and watch the events from the large flatscreen in the living room. 

As you snuggled into your mates, the view of tiktok on Taehyung’s phone catches your attention, as you turn your head further to watch. 

“I sometimes forget you all have like super-secret accounts on social media.” You mutter to your mate, catching his attention as he turns his phone so you can see better. 

“Yup, we follow you now, as well. It’s easy when we make usernames like therealtaetae. No one suspects anything because a lot of army have similar usernames.” You nod along, knowing that army have been trying to find their real accounts for months now.  

It’s nice to sit in silence sometimes, nothing overstimulating or overwhelming to occur. You felt completely at ease in your soulmate’s arms, something you never thought you would get to experience. 

You can’t help but smile as you think back on all the times you dreamt of them, not realizing you would be soul bonding with Jimin and Tae, that they could see you and bring you real comfort when you needed it most. 

You were almost grateful that you didn’t experience a bond with them, thinking how overstimulated you would be all the time and how no one would probably believe you anyways. You wouldn’t be able to find them given the amount of security the boys, and now you, have so all of your attempts would’ve been futile. 

Fate works in mysterious ways, you think. 

You feel Tae’s arms tighten around you as he nudges your head over so he has more room to lay his head in the crook of your neck. You giggle a little as he gently lays a kiss on your skin causing goosebumps to erupt. 

You end up cuddling there for a couple hours before Yoongi and Hobi come back, bags in their hands as they come in through the door. 

“Honey’s, we’re home!” Hobi yells cutely, smiling wide as he closes the door with his foot, Yoongi already making his way to the coffee table in front of you, setting his bags down. 

Curiosity gets the better of you and you move to sit up, causing grumbles and protests to erupt from your two cuddly soulmates.

“What’s in the bags Yoongi? Hobi?” Your voice is a little gravely as you speak, causing Yoongi to smile softly at you. 

“In the bag, pretty girl, are some things that we think we’ll need in the upcoming week as we move to do some more interviews and meet with some people regarding solo activities.”

You remember the conversation from the previous night, how the boys have been wanting to branch out musically and experiment with their own sound but still remain loyal as a group and band. 

Bangtan would always be Seven. 

They both then proceed to pull out tons of snacks and drinks and even a couple sweaters that looked extremely comfy. You couldn’t help but wonder why they needed snacks and drinks when food is usually provided for the artists at events if needed and we all usually go out to eat afterwards anyways depending on how tired the boys are. 

As if sensing the questions brewing in your head, or more likely seeing the look of blatant confusion on your face, the Yoongi explains their purchases. 

“Baby girl, these items are for you.” You look from him and Hobi to the snacks on the table, realizing they had bought your favorite snacks and drinks, ones you would eat at home all the time. 

“We are going to be really busy this week and we don’t want you having to wait to eat when we know that you tend to get hungry while were out. We can easily push through our hunger, but we don’t want you to ever have to do that. So, we got you snacks and drinks that can go in your backpack for when were out.” Yoongi continues while you look through the snacks with Jungkook who had come out of his room with the others as Yoongi and Hobi came home. 

“And the sweatshirts were actually Namjoon’s idea. We’re all going to wear them before we have to go so that we can get our scent on them.” You look to Namjoon who has a blush growing on his cheeks, reaching his arm up so he can rub nervously at his neck as he begins to explain his idea.

“Well, I noticed, we noticed that you always seem to relax or calm down when you’re surrounded by our scent so I thought we could help you by giving you something to wear that’s covered in our scents.” You barely give him time to finish speaking before your jumping on him, wrapping your legs and arms around your tall soulmate. 

“Thank you Joonie. That’s very thoughtful of you.” You mumble against his neck as you bury yourself in his arms. 

You’ve never had someone think of you like your boys do, always trying to do things for you and keeping you in their hearts and thoughts. You’ve never felt simple love like this and it makes you tear up a little as you continue to hold onto your soulmate. 

“Well, while they decide who wears what sweater first, why don’t I take our little soulmate into the kitchen so we can get started on dinner? Hmm?” Jin takes the lead after everything is unpacked and you slowly begin to climb down from Namjoon. 

You nod at your eldest soulmate and take his offered hand as Namjoon squeezes your waist in reassurance once more before moving over to supervise the now fight between Jungkook and Jimin over who gets to wear the blue sweater first. 

-*-*-

Monday found you riding with Hobi, Jungkook and Jimin as you were on your way to an interview with Buzzfeed. The boys were going to be doing a couple of interviews with them today, including a remake of the interview with puppies, and a try not to sing or dance challenge amongst others. 

You had loved watching these types of videos, finding them entertaining and hilarious, especially the try not to sing challenges. 

 You had said as much to the boys in the car with you, who then made it their mission to win whatever challenge was thrown their way.

You had tried to tell them that the videos were for fun, but even Jungkook shook his head, declaring himself the winner early making everyone laugh. From the corner of your eye, you could even see Seungho smiling a little at everyone’s banter. 

Once the car was parked, it was a little whirlwind of movement that found you inside the studio, a light blue backdrop already set up for whatever interview/challenge they were going to film first. You couldn’t help but to look around the room, watch all the people getting the room ready for your boys. 

The boys themselves made themselves very known, the laughter being heard from the dressing room down the open hall. It made you smile, hearing their laughter. 

Seungho was with you, watching you interact with the room around you, slowly moving you a little to the left or the right so you weren’t accidentally in anyone’s way as you got lost in thought. He noticed you tended to do that, but he wasn’t bothered, and it seemed no one else was either. 

“Alright guys, five more minutes!” Someone you didn’t see had yelled across the room, signaling the filming would begin soon. Even more commotion followed the man’s words because as soon as he yelled, the boys came barreling into the room, heading straight for you, excitement covering their features. 

Hobi was the first to catch you, Jimin right behind him. “We get to do the puppy interview first!” Hobi’s excitement made you smile, knowing how much they loved animals. You all had watched some of the Buzzfeed videos last night, and they were excited to be able to get to do this. 

They had all given you hugs or head pats as the moved past you, smiles accompanying their actions as they gathered in the middle of the backdrop, picking and teasing each other over the spots they picked. 

You hung back with Seungho, finding a place where you could sit but where the boys could still see you as the filmed what the needed to. You ignored the looks from some of the interns, with their badges hanging proudly. 

You just watched your boys have fun, playing with the puppies and answering questions, some about you. You all had talked about it numerous times, again and again, and each time you promised them they could answer any question they wanted about you, and your relationship.

You had trusted them; you had trusted them with a lot more that you had ever been comfortable with previously. But they were your soulmates, and you loved them with all your heart. You knew they would have your best interest at heart, always. 

So, it made you a little warm inside when they happily and enthusiastically answered one of the three approved questions about you. 

“Now, we know that you’ve finally completed your soulgroup. How has the adjustment been, bringing in your new soulmate?” The interviewer asked politely before gesturing to the boys.

“Well,” Namjoon looked around, “we haven’t really had an adjustment period. We have all just been taking the time to get to know each other and find our own groove.” The boys nodded along in agreement before Yoongi spoke up.

“She fits perfectly within our group, filling in the spots we didn’t know we had.” He smiles along in thought as he answers the question.

You and Seungho watched them as they answered a few more questions, some silly and some about their comeback from the army. When they were finally done, the get up and moved to sit with you as the interns slowly went forward to change the backdrop to a dark green one and brought a table forward with a couple chairs. 

For the next segment, some of the influencers that Buzzfeed normally worked with were paired up with each member to try and accomplish a couple challenges together. The first was a try not to sing or dance, K-Pop edition. The next would be a try to guess the song challenge. All of this had been approved by HYBE and the influencers involved were known to be respectful K-Pop fans. 

You were excited, to say the least. 

Jimin had gone first and almost threw the table over when his partner and him had lost the second round, both getting up and dancing to View by Shinee. Jin had gone second, immediately forgetting it was a try NOT to sing or dance challenge and lost the entire thing with his partner, who had also given up on the second song. 

By the time Jungkook had gone last, only Yoongi and Taehyung had won their challenges. You had almost thought Yoongi was gonna budge when a Big Bang song had come on, but he made it through.

Jungkook’s turn had finally come, and he had been impatiently watching by your side as his soulmates had their turns. He had been bouncing and trying his hardest to keep quiet as you both watched. 

“I’m gonna win, just you wait.” You murmured to you as he stood up, receiving a thumbs up from you and a grin that he matched as he sat down at the table with his partner. You watched them high-five and brag about how they were gonna win, their determination showing for the camera. 

In the end, however, they neither won nor lost.

“No, no, no, I didn’t dance. I was just breathing really strongly.” Anthony, Jungkook’s partner exclaimed when the buzzer went off. 

“Yeah, really strongly!” Jungkook added, the both of them demonstrating that they were ‘breathing’ and not moving their shoulders to the beat. You couldn’t help but to cover your mouth to hold in your laughter as you watched your youngest soulmate try and manipulate his way out of losing each round. 

It was funny, the excuses the duo were coming up with. It came to a point where Jimin, Hobi, Taehyung, and you had to leave the room as you couldn’t help but laughing, Jin having to drag you and Jimin out as you were stuck besides yourselves with laughter. 

“I can’t believe him! Using the motion of the camera to justify his movement!” You laughed aloud once Jin closed the door behind your group. Jimin and Taehyung were clinging to each other as Hobi had his arm around you, trying to keep you upright and steady as you both watched your other giggling soulmates fall to the ground. 

It took a couple more minutes for Jungkook to come out the door, pout very prominent on his lip as he went for Jin, falling dramatically into his arms as he wailed.

“They cheated!” Jungkook cried out, causing all of you to start laughing again. 

The next challenge went about the same, however, you weren’t expecting them to come to you after Namjoon went last this time.

“Hello, Y/n. We were actually wondering if we could film a ‘guess the song challenge’ with you. We know you are a huge K-Pop fan and we think this would be a fun way for everyone to see how you interact.” The producer had asked you, nervously gazing at Hobi and Yoongi as they stood behind you, probably looking as menacingly as they could. 

You thought about it, even looking over your shoulder to the two of your soulmates behind you, gauging their opinion, but when they looked at you, awaiting your answer, you turned back around. 

“Sure, I’d love too!” You reply, a big smile on your lips showing your excitement at being able to participate after spending almost the entire day watching your soulmates have fun. 

The producer nods at your answer before turning away. You turned in excitement to see more than just Yoongi and Hobi behind you. Your soulgroup was behind you, looking down at your bouncing figure, their smiles shining down on your excitement. 

“Did you hear that? I get to film a challenge with you!” You almost shout in your enthusiasm, having Jungkook bring you into the middle of the circle, what you call the soulmate huddle. 

You beamed up at them with excitement, happy to be involved and to be able to play the challenge with them. You sometimes imagined what it would be like to be a part of Buzzfeed, doing these challenges and seeing if you would win. You always played along from at home, competing against yourself to see if you would win; you always lost though.

You were sat between the winners from the first rounds, so you would be playing with Jungkook, Yoongi and Hobi. Namjoon had lost horribly, complaining that he wasn’t given enough time to answer, while Jin and Taehyung both just said they forgot they were playing a guessing game and started singing along. Jimin tried his hardest, but his partner was a very strong opponent. 

It was Jungkook, then you sat sandwiched between Yoongi and Hobi who was sat at the end of the table. Each of you had a buzzer this time, with the fastest person to hit the buzzer and answer correctly each round winning.  

The first song was Pirate King by Ateez, and all you needed was to hear the first beat to hit the buzzer. Jungkook yelled from your left as you answered confidently, Yoongi looking at you with both eyebrows raised and Hobi putting his head in his hands as they all realized you were some serious competition. 

They seriously underestimated how much K-Pop you listened to, and how many groups you loved to listen to. 

When What is Love by Twice played over the speaker, you squealed in excitement before hitting the buzzer, almost yelling the title before the ‘ding’ sounded out telling the group that you were right before you started dancing the main chorus’s choreo as the sound played over the speaker again. 

You’ll find Levi and Beel doing the dishes for you when it’s your turn, or if you’re supposed to make dinner you’ll find that Mammon and Asmo have already ordered everyone takeout, and they’re already in the middle of setting it all out on the table. You won’t have to do a thing! If you were supposed to clean up a common space in the house, it’ll already be done by some of your assorted pact partners. You might even find sticky notes placed amongst your homework in Lucifer’s, Satan’s, and Belphie’s handwriting, suggesting edits and books titles to check for better information, and pointing out any parts in your work that are particularly well done.

When you check your DDD later, you see that Lucifer had instructed his brothers to take on what they can from you to make your life easier today. He was not planning on letting you know that, clearly—because he sent that in the brothers group chat. You only know because Karasu’s spy feature showed you.

His support is shown in all these soft, quiet details. Peaceful moments. Simple, but unmistakable reminders of how loved you are. It’s okay if you don’t smile today, even though he would like you too. He will verbally remind you that loves you anyway.

_______

Mammon:

Mammon’s first instinct, of course, is retail therapy. He offers to take you shopping. He’ll even pay for your stuff! He doesn’t mind if it makes you happy!

You appreciate that very much—and maybe you’d be happy to take him up on that if you were sad for a reason, but… you just have no spare energy. Just thinking about going out exhausts you more. You’d have to deal with looking at things! And forming opinions, and deciding on stuff to buy! There’s crowds and cashiers and bright lights and just… stuff outside! You can’t, you just can’t. You have no energy and you can’t.

The first time Mammon sees you like this, he’s confused. You don’t wanna go out? You don’t want any new stuff?? He sure hasn’t felt like that before!

He puts effort into figuring out what will actually help cheer you up instead. He’s considerate that way.

He tries taking you for a long drive. He tries taking tasks off your to-do list. He tries trailing after you all day to keep you company, holding your hand, chattering all day so you can’t hear your thoughts, staying quiet so you don’t get overstimulated. He cycles through every possible approach over the months, on every random day you happen to wake up like this.

It’s all greatly appreciated—and hey, some of his ideas work better than the rest! You feel loved and cared for regardless. It’s impossible to miss how much he adores you.

Eventually though, he strikes gold!

That particular day, he had been telling you a stupid joke every time he ran into you, in an attempt to make you smile. He gets a weak grin for his troubles just about halfway through the day. He beams at you triumphantly at that, impulsively scooping you up for a hug and repeatedly kissing the top of your head, and—aha! THERE’S the smile he was looking for!

From that point on, he knows what to do!

The next time you wake up in this mood, he takes the first opportunity to give you a playfully over the top show of affection. Over the course of the day, he keeps doing it!

He runs into you in the hallway between classes, he (gently) aggressively ruffles your hair as he passes you. He finds you aimlessly walking through the house, you immediately get snatched into his arms for a nice long squeeze. You sit with him as he’s scrolling through devilgram, he sets it aside for a moment to squish your cheeks between his hands and cover your forehead and nose with loud, playful kisses. You go up to him and request attention? You get kiss attacked, and he won’t let up until you crack a smile!

Your brain hurts, he says, echoing your very first explanation. It’s okay though, he says. He’ll kiss it better, he says.

He is MORE than happy to completely discard the tsundere façade to lean into this… over-the-top affectionate silliness, as long as it continues to make you laugh and smile like that.

He won’t admit it, but… this is more honest. This is much closer to who he is at heart than his usual behaviour is. Try as he might, he can’t hide how much he cares to save his life.

The realest aspect of Mammon is not the dumbass, not the money-grubber, not the uncaring cool guy that he pretends to be… no, it’s the goofy dork who loves you SO much that he’d go to any amount of effort to cheer you up.

He’s damn good at it too! HE was put in charge of your well-being for a reason! He’s the best big brother/guardian/friend/pact partner ever, and you’re his to take care of. He’s not letting HIS human go without smiling once for a whole day! You’re the sole member of his family he can openly dote on, and dammit, he will!

_______

Levi:

Levi’s go-to is, of course, distracting you with media. He tries games first, but if you’re too low-energy for that, he gets it. He tries anime, movies, shows, videos, manga, whatever you seem to respond best to.

You’ll notice a theme of letting others help, confiding in friends, opening up to people. There are repeated instances of characters asking for support from the rest of the cast and then being helped and taken care of. Lots of power of friendship stories, lots of hurt/comfort and “it’s rotten work” “not to me, not if it’s you” and team-as-family.

Maybe, just maaaybe, he’s trying to tell you something!

He relaxes when you explain that you just woke up like this, sometimes this just happens and it’s no one’s fault, there’s no problem, he doesn’t have to worry about you. He gets that! Sometimes he wakes up like that too. It does happen!

But… you’re his player two! He wants to worry about you!

So he takes care of you the way he wishes someone would take care of him when he gets like that. Gives you the extra love he knows first-hand that you need right now. He lets you choose the entertainment, he holds your hand, and mirrors what you do to self-soothe.

If you wanna lie on the floor and stare at his jellyfish decorations, he’s right next to you. If you wanna tell Henry how you’re feeling, he’s right there with you doing the same so you don’t have to feel self-conscious. If you’re stimming, he will too. That one makes him happy as well! If you wanna burrow into a pile of blankets and plushies like a hognose snake, he totally gets it and will also do that. He does that anyway sometimes, just because it’s comfy.

There’s not a hint of judgement from Levi. Ever. He gets it.

When you guys HAVE to leave his room, like for meals and such, he lends you his headphones. So you don’t get overstimulated from all the noise his brothers make. He never goes far from you, either. He always stays close enough that you can reach for him if you want to.

After dinner, when you’re tired and done with trying to act normal (not that even one of your demons is fooled), Levi brings you back to his room. He asks if you have any requests, anything you want to do, anything he can do to help you. If you know what you need, he’ll just do it. If you don’t, he’ll offer comfort in some form that makes sense to him. He understands that all you really need is some extra love when you’re like this, so he’s not at a loss. He gets it, he feels the same way sometimes, he can do that!

You end up curled up in his lap, hiding your face in his shoulder as he watches an anime you’ve both seen before at a low volume. Familiar and comforting. He’s happy to just sit and chill with you until you feel like you’ve recharged enough. He knows you’d do the same for him.

_______

Satan:

Satan’s instinct, once he learns what’s going on, is to bring you to the quiet spot outside where the stray cats he has befriended gather and then plonk the chillest one in your lap.

Cats are perfect fluffy little warm purring bundles of free therapy, after all. How could you not be recharged by this?

He’s not wrong, the cat definitely helps. It is in fact a perfect creature.

But… well, you don’t bother to spend the energy on saying so, but being outside isn’t really helping. You cringe at every loud noise. The wind ruffling your clothes every so often is annoying you. You’re sitting on concrete and it’s making you cold. The streetlights feel particularly aggressive to your eyes today. Very stabby. There are smells outside! No one wants that!

You love the cats, but Satan is giving them all his attention and you’re getting just a little bit jealous. You as well are giving the cat in your lap all your attention, and—as stupid as you feel about it—you’re getting a little bit jealous about that too. You want attention too! All the cat has to do is be cute and soft and it can have all the petting and cuddling it wants! As it deserves, yes, but… don’t you as well, though..?

You try to push that feeling away and just pet the cat. The cat did nothing wrong, you still love it, you’re supposed to be feeling MORE recharged from this! Not… whatever it is you do feel. At the end of the day you still enjoy petting the cat and you don’t want it to leave. That’s still true and that’s what matters, you tell yourself.

Eventually the cat decides it’s had enough petting for now, and gets up. Satan checks on you, fully expecting you to be thoroughly cheered up! Instead he sees you staring forlornly at your hands, mostly zoned out. Confused, he asks if you’re okay.

You nod once, giving him a hollow smile.

Now he’s concerned. He takes a minute to finish petting the cats surrounding him—noting the hint of jealousy in your eyes as you observe him—then comes to sit on the concrete stair next to you.

He gently points out that he knows you well enough to detect a lie. Especially an unconvincing lie like that. You give a noncommittal hum in reply. That’s all you have the energy for.

He wraps an arm around your shoulders, letting you slump against his side. Your head leans against his shoulder. His other arm comes up to stroke your head for a moment, then drops down again to take your hand.

In a small, tired voice, you thank him. He gives your hand a gentle squeeze in reply.

Eventually he adjusts you so he can hold you more comfortably. Every so often he kisses the top of your head, or rubs your shoulder, or squeezes your hand, or says something quietly to you. Pointing out a interesting leaf shape, telling you something inconsequential about his day, prompting you to look when one of the cats does something cute, reminding you that he loves you and it’s okay to feel like this. That he enjoys your company no matter what mood you’re in.

This helps a lot more. Eventually you have enough energy to reply to him in full sentences! He’s visibly relieved at that. Still, he continues to hold you.

It’s after this point that a different cat comes up to you. It sniffs your shoelace then rubs itself against your leg. It flops over your shoe, stretching adorably with its little paws reaching up. It looks up at you all wide-eyed and cute, and finally you give a short puff of a laugh. Satan feels it more than hears it, but still!! He feels successful!

You pet this cat as it stands up and sniffs at your free hand. You look at it with a little smile. There’s a bit more soul in this smile, to Satan’s relief.

Later, as the two of you are leaving, he slips the cat a treat and whispers a thank you to it. Then he takes your hand again and leads you back home.

(He makes a mental note to himself for next time: pet the sad human first!! Then go see the cats!)

_______

Asmo:

Asmo notices that you’re having one of those days today, and he rushes to spoil you. Like Mammon, his first instinct is to take you shopping—but specifically for clothes and makeup and skincare products. Stuff that would cheer him up.

But you’re tired, and he understands that. It’s okay, he still knows what to do!

Asmo brings you into his room. You curl up in a sad, tired lump on his bed. He lets you chill there while he gathers up the stuff he wants.

He returns to you with his arms full of stuff! Nail polish, face masks, a hairbrush, moisturizer and hair oil, etc etc. Stuff for taking care of you.

He makes a point of only doing stuff that doesn’t sting at all. No plucking eyebrows or messing with your cuticles or anything like that. Just the stuff that feels nice.

Asmo quietly chatters about people he knows and stuff he’s used and whatever the latest gossip he’s heard is. Not even really to inform you this time, because he knows you’re probably not gonna remember much when you’re like this, but more to provide you with a constant, grounding backdrop of his familiar voice.

He speaks softly to you as he wipes your face with cleanser and then proceeds with his skincare process. He gently brushes your hair, spending twice as long as necessary just because it feels nice. He insists you don’t bother to move as he sits next to you and paints your nails.

At some point he runs out of stuff to do, so he ends up just brushing over your face with a clean makeup brush. No product on it at all, he’s just doing it to make you relax, because it’s soft and it feels nice. It’s meditative, honestly. For both of you.

He spends a good long while doing that.

He finishes up and lies down next to you. He pulls you into a cuddle. You offer to return the favour for him. Do his skincare and hair and nails and stuff for him, spoil him back—because he deserves the best.

For the first time ever, he declines. He shushes you and holds you tighter. This is the only situation in which he would ever refuse that!

He says you’re more than welcome to return the favour tomorrow if you like, but for now he just wants you to rest. He did all that for you to get you in this relaxed state you’re in right now, don’t get up and un-relax yourself so fast! Keep your brain turned off! It’s good for you sometimes!

… yes, Asmo is surprised by his own selflessness too—more surprised than you are by now, knowing him. He’s always been selfless for your sake since you first became his friend. It still surprises him though.

_______

Beel:

Beel is your best guy for validation. For quiet, thoughtful, unwavering support. He’s a lot more insightful than he’s often given credit for. He’s one of the best people in this family in terms of emotional intelligence, no question about it.

He knows just what to do. He observes you as the day goes on, taking the first opportunity to pull you aside and check on you without any others around. Just to make absolutely sure there’s nothing else going on.

His voice is soft, his hands are gentle, and he puts effort into understanding you. You’re family, he loves you so much! So of course he would.

He’ll share his food with you of course—both because he wants you to know that he loves you that much, and because he’s trying to remove a task from your to-do list. You don’t have to think about getting food and preparing it and any of that if he just. Does it for you. You can spend your very limited energy elsewhere.

He’ll take you with him on his routine walk, just so you can have a change of scenery and an opportunity to chat uninterrupted.

He listens to you complain about being outside with his characteristic placid sympathy—a combination that would be a bit contradictory if it came from anyone else, but somehow makes perfect sense for Beel. It’s soothing. Reassuring, somehow. He helps a lot, just by being himself.

When you inevitably run out of energy—much quicker than you usually do, but you expected that—he offers to carry you. Or rather, he automatically goes to do it on muscle memory, because that’s just what he does with tired loved ones (Belphie usually). He catches himself and realizes he should ask first in this case. Just to make sure. He’s considerate like that.

You are very tired… and you want contact. So of course you accept the offer. How could you refuse when he offers so earnestly?

He walks in measured, consistent steps as he carries you. The sway of his movement is deliberately relaxing. He’s trying to lull you into a meditative haze, or maybe put you to sleep. Either is good, he thinks.

The warmth of him makes the… everything about being outside when you’re feeling this way a lot more tolerable. The sounds of his footsteps, his breaths, his heartbeat… all of that drowns out the background noise just enough. Your face is pressed into his jacket, so the streetlights don’t stab your eyes and all the distressingly inconsistent outside smells are entirely covered by the spices-aromatics-soap scent of Beel. It’s a smell you know very well, and the familiarity of it is grounding.

Everything about him is grounding, really. He really did know exactly what to do.

At the end of the day… it’s okay if you don’t smile. He would like you to, of course, but he will meet you where you’re at. Anyway, it’s more important to him that you feel like it’s safe to show however it is you actually feel around him. He understands the amount of trust that takes, and he’s honoured by it. Nothing is more important to him than that trust.

So, you don’t have to smile. It’s okay.

Don’t be strong, he tells you. There’s no need, for now. Just let him. Rest, lean on his strength—he’s got more than enough for both of you. He’s got you. He’s not going anywhere.

_______

Belphie:

Oh, you’re tired? A bit sad, a bit grouchy? Damn. Looks like even HE has more energy than you today. That’s not something he sees often! Well, that’s fine. He knows what to do.

It’s straight to baby jail with you!

In his arms, that is. In bed, surrounded by his best pillows, covered by the least warm heavy blanket he has, so you won’t overheat but will still feel nice and covered.

He positions you so you’re facing each other, with your head tucked under his chin. So you have room to comfortably breathe and talk, but your face is still as covered as possible so you won’t be bothered by any lights.

Emotional intelligence may not be Belphie’s strong suit, but he is observant and he understands exhaustion. This may not exactly be the usual kind of exhaustion, but still! There’s no demon better equipped to understand what’s going on with you right now, just by nature.

He’s totally fine with cuddling you in silence if you don’t feel like talking. That really works for him, actually, because it allows him to nap.

Not that he doesn’t WANT to listen to you. He does. He’d be happy to. But he gets it if you don’t wanna bother with that. It’s okay.

He will, however, delay taking a nap until you doze off first. He just wants to make sure you’re okay. He’s not about to just fall asleep and abandon you if you still need attention.

If you’re not falling asleep very fast, he will help. Not with magic, surprisingly. He’s being more… gentle, he supposes, than that in this situation.

He talks quietly about nothing important. The soft drone of his voice, kept consistent and deliberately soporific, melts into your brain like butter, slowing it way down. Blocking everything else out. Gradually turning it off. One hand rubs your back slowly, almost as if to match the rhythm of his voice.

It’s so relaxing. You feel like you could stay like this forever and never want to move, you’re that comfortable.

Belphie knows what he’s doing.

It works really well! He makes sure you feel loved and cared for, then makes sure you get some extra rest. Mental and physical recharging.

Of course, you wake up feeling a lot better. Maybe not entirely back to your normal self yet, but definitely better. How could you not?

You’re a lot less tired after you’ve slept, and less sad too… so he’s succeeded—but you’re still not smiling!

He can fix that, right?

He lets you get up and stretch first, of course. He does the same. Before you leave the room though, he wraps you up in another hug.

He pulls back to examine your face after a minute or two.

Hmm… you look comfy, but still no smile! He can’t have that! So he hugs you tightly again, but this time his fingers start to lightly poke and brush over your sides. He’s trying to force you to smile by tickling you. He’s not gonna do too much, he’s not trying to overwhelm you. He stops as soon as you crack a smile.

There we go, he says as he gives you one last gentle squeeze. That was all he wanted, he tells you.

He doesn’t let go of you for long, over the rest of the day. Always holding your hand, giving you random hugs, draping himself over your shoulders—but without making you take all his weight for once, because he knows you’re still kinda tired. Enough of it to be soothing, but no more. Just so you don’t get lonely. He doesn’t want you to get all sad again.

If you do get sad again though, it’s okay. He will squish the sadness out of you all over again, as many times as you need. He doesn’t mind.

You thought that a concert would be an isolated incident; Somewhere where you could only focus on the music and not on anything else. Where you could just feel the music and let your body sway to the rhythm. 

Finding out you had a soulmate at a concert was not on your plan for the night. 

And looking down at your wrist to see the gold letters building the name of your bias was also not on your plan for the night. 

For soulmates, soul bonds only activate when you are in the same room, gold letters representing the soul spell out the name of your soulmate. A gold light also surrounds the people within the bond so you could find your other half easier. 

But you knew who your other half was, and you doubted they could see you from the stage. 

You were seated near the front of the stage, a front row seat in the first part of the seated section. You had felt beyond lucky to get the seat, knowing how quickly the seats go and how easily the concerts sell out tickets. Now, you wonder if it was fate bringing you here. 

You anxiously sat, waiting for some kind of sign that he also sees you. But Hongjoong seemed to look almost everywhere but where you were seated. That was until he glanced at your section during Guerilla and seemed to do an obvious double glance. Everyone around you was screaming, thinking that he was looking at them, but you know differently. 

But then he didn’t look your way again. 

You couldn’t help but to think, maybe he doesn’t want a soulmate?

Did he see your soul light?

He probably isn’t interested in having a soulmate. Another person to depend on. It’s probably for the best anyways, with your disability anyways. You couldn’t always control your brain or the way your body took in stimuli. 

Seeing reason, you tried to just enjoy the rest of the concert, listening to Answer and then Crazy Form, which was one of your favorites. You followed the crowd and moved your light stick along with them. You even got up and danced for as long as you could handle. 

When the concert ended, though, you couldn’t help but to wait a couple minutes. You told yourself it was because you couldn’t handle the crowds trying to leave the stadium at the same time, but you knew it was because you hoped that he did want you, even the tiniest bit. 

After waiting about ten minutes, you gave up hope and started to grab your things. It was disappointing, but nothing you weren’t used to. Being a burden was unfortunately something you felt a lot, and this was nothing different. 

After grabbing your things, you began to make your way down the small walkway that led to the inner hallways of the stadium, out into the main concession area. You pass through the entryway only to bump into a large man in a stadium uniform. 

“Are you Ms. Y/n L/n?” The large man was imposing and his voice was deep and intimidating, making you hesitate for a couple of seconds before nodding your head, not wanting any trouble. 

“We’ll need you to come with us then.” You heard another voice, and someone pushed past the large and intimidating man to stand in front of you. 

This man was shorter, but still nonetheless intimidating. He wore a stern expression and his glasses reminded you of an old professor you had in college who loved to yell and throw things across the classroom when someone was talking during his lecture. It was safe to say you were now shaking in your shoes. 

The ma wore no indication of his position with regards to the stadium, and you were thoroughly confused now to what could be going on. 

“Is there something wrong, Sirs?” Your voice was weaker than you wanted to push out, showing how uncomfortable you were. 

The men just turned around and started walking, not even looking to see if you were following. But you did, entirely scared and uncomfortable and feeling entirely intimidated to do anything but what the men say. 

You followed them through a different hallway, one with the words “CREW ONLY” plastered to the front. You now went from being scared to freaked out. Your thoughts were going a hundred miles an hour until you ended up in front of a set of double doors that had the word “ATEEZ” printed on a sheet of paper and taped to the right-side door. 

Now, now you were completely frozen.

You swear your heart actually stopped. 

“Please.” The short man gestured you forward, knocking on the door for you without giving you a second to move. 

Before you could catch your breath, someone opened the door, a casual smile on their lips and a baggy but comfortable looking t-shirt with the new Ateez designs on it. You assumed this was one of the managers as he shook the smaller man’s hand and thanked them for bringing you here. 

“Hello, you must be Ms. Y/n?” The man then turned to look at you, his bright eyes centered on you and then your wrist where Hongjoong’s name resided in gold ink.

You just stared at the man, your obvious nerves showcased on your face, still completely frozen as you look up at him. 

“Please, don’t be nervous. Hongjoong is actually excited that we were able to find you still here and might actually start freaking out if we leave him in there with Wooyoung and Jongho’s teasing any longer.” The man cracks another warm-hearted smile at you before holding his hand out for you to take, a nice gesture. 

“How about we go and introduce you to your soulmate, hm?” The man, who still didn’t introduce himself moved behind you, hand hovering against your back as he opens the door again, the noise from inside becoming completely silent as you slowly moved inside. 

You saw Hongjoong first, his eyes catching yours as a large smile grows on his lips, his cheeks pushed wide as he does so. You then catch Wooyoung actually hanging off of the captain, Seonghwa trying and failing to get him off until you appear, both men slowly moving away from their leader. 

The soul light slowly dims until its gone when you are now only a couple feet apart. You could feel your body slowly relaxing as you got closer to your soulmate, something you’ve never felt before. Relaxation and peace were always hard to come by when your body always seemed to take in more stimuli that you could handle.

But you felt at ease, now an arm’s length away from the person you were destined for. 

“Hello. It’s nice to meet you.” Hongjoong spoke softly as if not wanting to break the moment between you. 

“Hi.” You smile a little, wanting to show him that you were okay, that you were okay with everything. 

“Why don’t we sit, get to know each other better.” He asked you, motioning to the now vacant couch behind you, big enough for the two of you. You also noticed the sneaky glances that the other Ateez members sent each other. 

“Okay.” You smiled at the boys as you passed by them, each of them introducing themselves to you as if you didn’t just attend their concert. 

You sat down, and before Hongjoong could pick another place to sit, every single other spot than the one beside you was taken by the boys. Hongjoong just took it in stride, sitting beside you as he dramatically shakes his head and sighs at his members actions. You couldn’t help but to let out a little laugh at their actions, trying to play matchmaker between soulmates. 

It was as if they all started speaking at once, the younger members just yelling out questions for you as you sat next to Hongjoong, Seonghwa trying but failing to reign them in, even if it was a half-hearted attempt at doing so. 

You didn’t even attempt to answer, seeing as you couldn’t distinguish a single question. Instead, you just took the hand that your soulmate offered you, shyly holding it in your grasp. 

“They’re always like this. I promise, they like you already.” Hongjoong leans down and whispers into your ear. You could hear the smile and adoration in his voice, something that made you smile again.