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They say when things go wrong, take a break to eat pizza.

Who said? Who knows but it works. The pizza boxes pile up on the centre table with everyone taking a bite of their own delicacies with a satisfactory hum. When the silence settles, someone chews loudly thinking that might be the best way to not get things awkward. 

"Yerin," Jin winces when he draws the attention of everyone, despite trying to speak as lightly as he did, "How long is your holiday for?"

When all eyes fall on Yerin to hear an answer, she instinctively leans back a little as if to hide behind Era's back who was sitting just beside her. She sees how Naeun and Hayoung's eyes trail over her face, specifically over her scars. The familiar pity in their eyes makes her uncomfortable.

"Oh, that long?"

"They are recruiting trainees and I didn't have much to do in the new camp, so I decided to use my pending leave," Yerin says, placing her pizza down. 

"That's good," Jin says. Hayoung's grip on her pizza slice tightens, almost piercing her nails through the crust. She has always appreciated Jin's social skills but he is hating every single bit of it.

"Is this the same training camp that the government has opened to allow rejected or retired soldiers to work in?" Namjoon says and Yerin nods.

"Then why are you working there?" Namjoon places another slice on his plate.

"I guess they need someone to go" Jin clears his throat before singing, "One night the rain came'~."

Everyone pauses, looking at Jin with their pizza hanging somewhere in the air. Yerin hesitates but when Jungkook smiles at her, she sings as well, "but I just stood there~"

"Oh my god, where did that come from?" Era says, complimenting her, "You're really good." Yerin smiles, shyly. 

"I have the feeling that we won't be able to see each other~" the three sing together.

Hayoung huffs. She remember how many months it had taken for her to have Jin speak more than a 'good morning' and Yerin's managed to have him sing a song. Arin taps Yoongi's shoulder before leaning forward," Ahjussi, what century is this? Did I time travel to the Joseon era?"

Jungkook who was sitting by her on the floor leans forward too, his arm almost touching Arin's knees,"Nope I think it's 245 BC."

A pillow comes flying across the room towards Jungkook from Jin and he immediately dodges away by leaning completely towards Arin. Yerin's jaw immediately clenches and she looks away. Calm down, he is just saving his pizza, food is more important!

She is surprised when her eyes meet Hayoung's. The latter raises a brow, her gaze intense and Yerin thinks that's the same intensity of urges one can see in her eyes too. She is worried Jungkook might not like that.

In the endless banter of the eldest and youngest, Naeun whines, "Not the pineapple!"

Arin grins, exchanging the slice of her pizza with Naeun's. "Do you guys know each other?" Hoseok asks, quietly placing his piece on Naeun's plate before taking the pineapple one from her. Naeun smiles warmly.

"I do," Arin grins.

"Whom do you not know?" Jimin mumbles. 

"I know her because she studied in the same high school as me!" Arin scoffs, "Teachers wouldn't stop talking about her." 

By the time the pizzas are eaten, the nerves have lightened— Namjoon thinks they are ready to talk again. Arin makes her way to sit beside Jimin again but her eyes are fixed on the string around her wrist, trying to make it into a bracelet. It slips out of her hand when she fails to tie a knot and falls on Jimin's lap.

He picks it up but instead of returning it, pauses. He feels dizzy for a moment before Arin snatches it from him, sitting down beside him. When he snaps his eyes open, they are blown wide.

Jin jokes something about Jimin trying to mimic Jungkook's Bambi eyes but the latter is quick to snatch the string back from Arin. "What the fuck are you doing, Park Jimin?"

"You...two..." he parts his lips, eyes frantically going back and forth Namjoon and Era. "You two are soulmates."

Hayoung scoffs, pinching the bridge of her nose. More drama now?

"What are you talking about Jimin?" Namjoon says, giving an awkward smile to Era who is standing still, confused.

"You two are soulmates." Jimin repeats and Arin takes the string back from him. 

"How do you know that?" Yoongi humourlessly chuckles and Jimin just mumbles I just know.

"Jimin Hyung had finally lost his mind," Jungkook claps. "Arin you've been successful in your mission." and the younger just pretends to bite Jungkook's hands. 

"But I am saying the truth!" Jimin insists and Jin diverts everyone's attention to the article on blue moons he is reading. Namjoon thanks Jin internally before he turns to take the pizza boxes to discard them but Era is already holding the stack in her arms, looking confused about what to do with them.

"Let me take care of them," Namjoon says, bringing his hands out to take the boxes from her. Era shakes her head, refusing.

"I will do it, it's okay."

"You're our guest, I cannot let you," Namjoon says, taking three boxes on the top of the pile from her. Era sighs, "I feel bad already. I wasn't invited but I still came, let me be of help around atleast..."

Namjoon starts walking out of the door, making Era follow him to the recycle bin. "You shouldn't think that way. That little packet of energy is extremely quiet because you're around and we actually got something done, otherwise I know how it would go." he chuckles, shaking his head at the mention of Arin.

They place the boxes down, Era dusts her clothes and says, "I apologise if Arin troubles you guys too much. I was just worried for her...but she looked so happy nowadays, I couldn't figure out what she was up to," and then mumbles, "Who expects a normal fan to be friends with their idols..."

Namjoon shakes his head, laughing, "We enjoy her company a lot. We are bored if she's not here in the evening." and then smiles, sadly, "We can't perform right now, can't work either as a group so they have been sad. But Arin manages to make them smile."

Era smiles, adoration flashing in her eyes. 

It's not until they are inside when Arin takes Era's purse and pulls out an AirPod case, huffing her way around as Naeun is following her, teasing her about something. It looks like Arin's trying to avoid hearing her by inserting the pods in her ears but as soon as she does that, she screams— removing the pods from her ears and throwing them somewhere.

One of them lands right at Hoseok's feet who looks at Arin, concerned. 

"What's wrong?" Jimin asks, walking closer to Arin who's rubbing her ears. Arin whines, 'Why did you not throw these away or at least not carry them around? I told you they are faulty!"

Era shakes her head, "They work just fine..."

Hoseok picks it up, "Faulty pieces in the limited edition AirPods of ours?" He then inserts one in his ear and flinches when he hears the disturbance through them. He hisses, observing the earpiece after taking it out. "You should have gotten them replaced or filed a complaint."

Before Era could say anything,  Arin deadpans, "Those aren't ours." She shrugs, "She found it on a bench at the Han river."

That makes Hayoung laugh as if she was mocking them.

"And you started using it?" Hayoung says, tilting her head, "Just like that?"

Era presses her lips, embarrassed to look at Hayoung. She wants to say that she's tried giving it back to the lost and found, tried even throwing them away but something or somehow, it always ends up in her bag.

She has a hunch why is it so but she wouldn't want to get her hopes up.

"So we have thieves too, here?" Hayoung chuckles and Jin grabs her arm, pulling her back. Hayoung shrugs his hold away, looking back at Era. 

"Era," Namjoon says, all of a sudden. "This is your diary, right?"

He produces a book in front of her and Era widens her eyes, nodding. "It is, how do...you..."

"You might want to open it up." he simply says and Era does. She furrows her eyebrows when she sees the first few pages filled with words and the rest with scribbles. She looks at him, slightly in disbelief that he used someone else's diary but when she reads the words, she gasps.

New words appear with every minute, 'Did he use my diary?', 'What is happening?', 'How is it writing on it's own?' 

"What is that..." Naeun gasps, looking over Era's shoulder at the diary.

"Those AirPods," Namjoon takes one from Hoseok and the other from Arin, "these are mine."

Hayoung scoffs. Namjoon hands them over to Era, "You can hear from them, can't you?"

Before Hoseok and Arin can say otherwise, Era nods. "They work just fine, they work even without connecting to the Bluetooth."

"What—" Naeun says, "How's that possible—"

"I don't hear the music though." Era says. She looks hesitant to continue when everyone's eyes are on her. "I hear someone's thoughts...that's why I didn't return it."

Then she looks at Namjoon. "I think I can hear my soulmate's thoughts through them..."

"Then Jimin hyung—" Jungkook gasps, "He was..."

"I was right, I told you!" Jimin scoffs, looking at the younger sassily.

The members grow confused, looking at each other and shrugging, unknown to the new revelation. Namjoon looks away from Era's eyes at everyone and says, "Can we discuss what are we gonna finally do?"

Era feels slightly hurt when Namjoon doesn't acknowledge her presence as a soulmate or says anything to her. Is he mad that I used his AirPods? Does he think I stole them? I should stop thinking, he'll probably read it in my book.

They get seated again, ignoring the awkward tension in the room and Eunbee says, "There are three Museums of Fate in Seoul itself, then two other in Daegu and Busan each. Where do—"

"I think, we should first discuss whether we release the statement of our hiatus, break or vacation because the fans deserve to know," Jin says, nodding when Namjoon hums. 

"You guys face problems in promotions and performing, you can still work otherwise, can't you?" Yerin says. "Basically you can work anywhere you don't have to show yourself or be physically present."

Jungkook intertwines his hands with her other one, making her look at him and he smiles shyly. Adorable. She looks away when she feels Hayoung stare at her but tries not to show that she is affected by it. 

Yoongi raises an eyebrow, "Right, actually. If we see, our inactivity won't be bad currently. Fans might think we are working on something big, which we have been—on our album. If things don't get settled in a month or so, we can decide then, what we have to do."

"Agreed, there are a few of us who can show ourselves so that it doesn't get suspicious." Hoseok says, "Jungkook and Taehyung cannot do Vlives or click pictures, but rest of us can. They can still be active if they want to be, posting old stuff?"

"Good point," Jin says, bringing out his fist for a fist bump with Yerin. But she can feel someone's eyes boring into her, probably Hayoung and it makes her uncomfortable. 

"We'll inform it to our company, you guys stay here— I will drop you home after," Hoseok says and then looks at Naeun, meaning he meant it for her. 

As soon as the boys are inside one of their room's on the same floor, Yerin turns towards Hayoung. "Is there a problem?"

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i changed it, i know i know.