Archive of Our Own

Yoongi was always one for silence. Still is one for silence. There’s just something about being alone with his own thoughts with no distraction whatsoever. It’s his own little bubble that no one else could ever gain access to.

It’s the best way he can get anything done. If not silence, then with music in his earbuds loud enough to drown out everything else except for his own thoughts.

His thoughts are nice to be with, most of the time. They let him function and finish his work and all of that good stuff. They may get a little rough on him sometimes, but that’s just part of life. At the end of any day, they’re what set him apart from every other person, and that’s what matters, he supposes.

His thoughts being his own is the main thing that makes them thoughts, kept away from anyone else thanks to the well-practiced use of a brain-to-mouth filter. No one learns of his inner thoughts and he never finds out theirs. Privacy is a nice thing to have. One of his favorite things to have, maybe.

Yoongi’s very much content about having his thoughts kept to himself, so now he’s wondering what kind of fucked up higher being would let this happen to him.

That’s not a very nice thing to think about us.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up ,” Yoongi mumbles under his breath as he reaches for a pillow. Maybe he can beat these voices out of his brain.

I don’t think that’ll work, seeing that we were never put into your brain through any physical means. Or at least, any physical means that we’re aware of.

He’s going crazy. Yoongi shoots upright in his bed. “Oh my god. I’m going crazy.” 

You’re not going crazy, you just need to calm down for a second and let us explain.

Yoongi ends up going to class that morning smacking at his head as if there’s water in his ears with the volume of his music louder than he ever listens to it. If he can’t have silence, then he thinks he should have the choice of what he’s listening to instead.

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Once he seats himself in the back of the lecture hall, Yoongi hesitantly turns off his music to be met with the blissful sound of silence. The only noise is of the other students settling in and situating themselves: the shuffling of papers, the rustling of bags.

He finds himself letting out his breath in a sigh of relief. Maybe he was just especially tired this morning after catching up on work most of the night before.

Halfway through the lecture, he’s lost enough in the rhythm of listening to the professor and taking notes that he has already forgotten about the whole voices-in-his-head ordeal he’d dealt with this morning.

He’s forgotten enough that when he hears a thought that is very much not his pop into his head, it manages to scare the life out of him.

What’s up with me waking up with so much going on in my head today? Oh, fuck, wait. Again?

Yoongi ends up jumping so hard that he bangs his knee up against the desk. He hisses in pain as he tries to send an apologetic look to the room. Ignoring the throbbing of his knee, he tries his best to focus back on the lecture.

Dude, you sound like you’re in pain. Are you good?

He freezes in the middle of his notes, looks around to see if anyone was sitting close enough to try to initiate a conversation. The nearest student is a row away like they always are. He gives his head a good shake as he looks back up at the professor.

You sound like you’re in serious denial, didn’t somebody explain this whole thing to you earlier?

He’s been ignoring us since he woke up, hyung. We decided to leave him alone once he tried to blast us away with his music.

Music? Really?

I mean, at least he hasn’t resorted to banging his head against the wall.

Listen, I had like two hours of sleep the night before, I was very distressed about having three extra voices in my head.

Yoongi decides to give up trying to take notes with an entire conversation going on inside his head. He sits back, staring blankly at whatever the professor is now trying to explain.

Okay, I’ll give. Someone, please explain before I admit myself into a fucking psych ward.

He cannot believe he is choosing to talk to people that may or may not be real through his thoughts instead of listening to what might be an important lecture.

We’re real! Promise. We’re living human beings with functioning bodies and everything. Plus, teachers are always recording their lectures these days. The advancement of technology is pretty cool.

The very strange conversation with the very real people continues until the professor dismisses them and the fresh air outside smacks him in the face in the most pleasant way one could be smacked. He takes a deep breath, silently hoping that with the sigh that follows, he’ll be able to sigh these voices out of his head.

Loving your description.

Shut up.

From there Yoongi ends up traveling back to the comfort of his apartment accompanied by the disembodied voices of random people floating around in his mind. The second he steps foot into his room he drops his bag next to the door and plops himself facedown on his bed.

So , he thinks, because he’s really communicating with this group of guys through his thoughts. This isn’t the first time, or the second, not even the fourth time this has happened, but the sixth ?

Mmm… yeah. We all thought the last time this happened was gonna be the last, but I guess we thought wrong.

Yoongi flips himself over and starts to stare holes into the ceiling. He’s still having a bit of trouble wrapping his head around this whole situation. Maybe this is actually just one really weird dream.

I thought we already established this to be very real.

Yoongi pinches himself anyway, just in case. He doesn’t wake up. One step closer to acceptance, he supposes.

How many of you are there, anyway?

Six? Seven with you. Maybe this will be the last time. Seven sounds like a good number.

It does, doesn’t it?

Yeah, I feel like this would be a really nice place to stop. I’m tired of having to block my thoughts out all the time.

Yoongi perks at that. You can block your thoughts? He cannot believe they didn’t say anything earlier.

Well, you really didn’t want to listen to us until like ten minutes ago, so this is kind of on you.

Plus, we didn’t even get to start explaining most of what we know about this to you yet. We were probably going to get there at some point.

He settles a little bit more into his bed. Tries not to think too much because he knows they’ll probably hear.

How long is this explanation gonna take? I have work to do.

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After a quick, though slightly confusing briefing about being the newest member of what the group of voices likes to call the “Soulmate Telepathy Link”, Yoongi really does not know what to think.

None of us except for Taehyung and Jimin refer to this as the “Soulmate Telepathy Link”, and the only reason that’s even a thing is that they were the first ones to have this whole thing happen to them.

The timeline that was explained to Yoongi was probably the most confusing part.

Okay, let me see if I caught this correctly. The first time this happened it was just two of you who could hear each other, and the second you guys met it stopped.

Sounds about right.

And then , Yoongi continues, you guys thought it was over until you woke up months later back to sharing thoughts, but this time with another person?

Yep. And then we met, it stopped, and the cycle repeated.

Sounds tiring, not gonna lie. He doesn’t think he would be able to handle having to share his thoughts with so many people for such a long time.

Eh, you get used to it.

He won’t have to get used to it, he hopes, if all it takes to get it to stop is meeting in person. The voices in his head are all talking in Korean, they’d all talked about it being noon, so they probably share a timezone. A meeting shouldn’t be that hard.

Well, in theory, you’d be right, probably. It never took us too long before we got together, but right now Namjoon hyung’s on some special internship trip in Japan or whatever, so… 

You have got to be kidding.

It’s not my fault I don’t have the ability to predict whenever this mind stuff happens.

For how long? Yoongi really doesn’t know how long he can handle a group of strangers having such easy access to his thoughts.

I still have a little more than a month before I’m supposed to be back. I promise this whole thing isn’t as bad once we all settle and get used to it, though.

He sighs. He’s already starting to miss the comfortable silence being alone used to provide.

We’re not usually this loud, you know. It’s just noisy ‘cause we all have to settle in again.

I really do need to get back to work sometime soon, though. I forgot how noisy this could get.

Oh, sorry Seokjin hyung. Maybe we got a little excited.

Yoongi also has some things to do, some work to catch up on. He pushes himself up off his bed and stares at his bag like it’ll float to him if he tries hard enough.

How would one go about blocking their thoughts within a telepathic mind link? He doesn’t know if he’ll get any work done now that he’s so distracted with this, but he might as well try.

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Sharing thoughts with such a big group of people, surprisingly, is not as bad as he thought. It’s like being on an extremely long phone call that you can never disconnect. The days after the first few become less cluttered and noisy as the novelty of the link wears off, everyone going back to their daily lives as if it never happened.

Yoongi doesn’t know what he would have done if he didn’t learn how to filter his thoughts from the others, though.

He doesn’t know what he would have done, because he is beginning to grow terribly fond of the group of people he’s been sharing a mind-space with.

He barely even knows what these people look like, yet somehow, he’s already halfway there to gone. (Not that he would ever let them know, of course.)

Oh, Jimin, while you’re at the store can you make sure to pick up some choco-buns? Yoongi doesn’t even try to hide a smile at Taehyung’s request as he continues to jot down notes. Though he freezes a second after, wondering exactly when this had become so normal.

Can’t you just text him for this? The rest of us really don’t need to know about your addiction to chocolate bread.

Jeongguk, I need to get the most out of this before we meet Yoongi hyung and this all goes away again. This is, one: faster, and two: the only way I can even contact Jimin, he never checks his phone when he’s shopping.

It takes concentration to go shopping and not end up with a hundred extra things. And the buns were the second thing I grabbed, Tae.

Wow, you know me so well.

What else would the Soulmate Telepathy Link be for?

Guys, I’m taking a test, can you continue this some other time?

Sorry, hyung!

Ah, sorry Seokjin hyung. Good luck with your test!

Thanks, guys.

Yoongi shakes his head as he tries to scribble more notes before his professor moves on and really wonders how he started to consider this to be normal. Endearing, even. He gives his head one more good shake, continuing to ignore the way his chest gets so warm when silence is replaced with wild conversations.

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He makes the Big Realization about three weeks in. He’s taking a walk outside at the request of his mind occupants, who were adamant about him getting some fresh air after he’d admitted to holing himself up in his apartment for the past two days working on a project for one of his music production courses.

So, as he continues to stroll along the sidewalk on his way to a nearby park, pen and notepad in hand just in case inspiration strikes, he finds himself comforted by the conversation taking place in his head.

Guys, quick, yes or no?

Jeongguk, last time you asked us this you ended up with cherry pink hair, I would like a little more context before we accidentally contribute to your dumb decisions—

Yes.

Taehyung, don’t support him on this when you don’t even know what he’s doing.

Namjoon hyung, he texted me about this a minute ago, and I am one hundred percent on board with what he’s asking about. And that reminds me, we still don’t have Yoongi hyung’s number.

Really? I guess it never came up since we can just talk like this.

Can we bring the conversation back to me? I really do need help making this decision.

And I already said yes.

I forgot about phone numbers. Do you guys want my number still? Yoongi blinks when he sees the park sign in front of him. He didn’t realize he had already walked so far, so distracted just listening to them all talk.

He walks further into the park, settling on a nice bench. A few other people are walking about: a family running around, a dog playing with their owner. All of it comes together to make a pleasant view, yet Yoongi still settles to stare at nothing as he concentrates on this conversation.

The number business can be revisited. I’m going through a crisis right now. Someone else please answer my question: yes or no?

Every bad decision you make results in great pleasure from my end so I will say yes.

Thank you, Seokjin hyung. Any objections before I open my computer back up and click the nice big box that says “check out”?

Woah, you’re spending money on a bad decision? Just tell us what before you go and press the box, please.

Fine, I’m—

He’s buying a sword. To start a sword collection.

Hyung! How are you just going to steal my thunder like that?

Sorry, I just think it’s funny!

Yoongi huffs out a laugh at the ridiculousness of not only the direction of the conversation, but of the entire situation in general. Three weeks and it still gets to him sometimes. He finds himself shaking his head as he brings pen to paper, letting his hand write whatever as he continues to listen.

You’re buying… a sword.

Multiple, if he’s gonna start a collection, Namjoon.

I abandoned my studying to listen to whatever Jeongguk had to say, and all I get out of it is learning about Jeongguk’s new interest in swords.

Hoseok hyung, I know you were waiting for an excuse to not study.

You’d want to buy this sword too if you knew what it looked like. It’s probably the sexiest, most badass thing I’ve seen in my entire life.

And you’ll become the opposite if you even think about ordering.

Wow, Jimin hyung. That kinda hurt.

Yeah, it was supposed to.

Too bad, though, I put in my card information the second Seokjin hyung said yes. There’s a pause. And I just pressed ‘confirm order’. Now all there is to do is wait five to seven business days.

Jeongguk… How much was the sword?

Not much, just a few thousand won… plus a hundred thousand more.

Jeongguk—

Okay, I have some class stuff to catch up on, hear you guys later!

Jeongguk, you know that’s not how this mind stuff works I know you can still hear me!

To be fair, the sword Jeongguk showed me was pretty sexy.

I’m surprised I’m not in jail after sharing thoughts with people who collectively have less impulse control than a toddler.

Love you too, Namjoon hyung.

Yoongi smiles and hopes he doesn’t look like he’s just dopily staring out into space. When he looks back at his notepad, he’s satisfied to find a full page of new ideas. He places the pad down on the bench next to him and leans back, stretching his neck as he looks up at the sky.

I have never had a quiet day since this whole thing started. Do you guys know how much I value silence?

Not as much as you value us. He can practically hear the wink Seokjin sends through his tone.

All he does in response is send back a disapproving hum. To himself, he thinks about exactly how true Seokjin’s statement had been. Now he even has a full page of random word blurbs to prove it.

Someone has a song stuck in their head, not bothering to block it out from the rest of them. The lyrics are all jumbled up, but the feeling of the song is still there. Yoongi lets himself listen to it as he picks up the notepad to skim what he’d written.

As he goes through trying to make sense of his word throw up, he feels himself getting more and more embarrassed. He didn’t even know he could be this cheesy. There’s stuff about how happy he gets talking to everyone. Something about them being some of the most special people in the world.

Yoongi pauses when he makes out “Even though we're far apart now, our hearts are still the same” written so sloppily he has to tilt his head to make sure he’s read it properly. He laughs. To think he wrote all of this listening to people he hasn’t even met in person bicker about swords.

This is when he makes the Big Realization.

He’s gotten more invested than he originally planned to. Invested enough to have enough inspiration to write hours upon hours of music. So, so invested in the six strange men who’d found a special place in his head that now he prefers to listen to the random little tidbits of conversation he can make out in the fog of his mind as he does his work rather than be lulled by comfortable silence.

Fuck.

You okay, hyung?

Just peachy. I just remembered I left some stuff on at home.

Better than when Namjoonie left the sink running,

That was one time.

The first thing he does when he gets back to his apartment is open up a file for a new project.

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The time between then and when Namjoon’s scheduled to come back seems to fly by. He comes back in three days and as the rest of them wait for him to come back so they can all meet up, they all start scrambling to make plans for the “perfect first meeting”.

Why do we keep calling it the first meeting? All of us except Yoongi hyung have already met before.

It’s the first meeting with Yoongi, isn’t it, Jeongguk?

I guess…

Yoongi didn’t know what to expect from the others in terms of planning, considering they can barely stay on topic when it comes to daily conversations, but he’s beginning to be pleasantly surprised by how much effort they’re putting into this.

So far, they’ve already decided a time and place without much arguing. The beach they chose is apparently the place all of their first meetings have taken place. They all talk about it with fondness in their voices, so Yoongi is quick to agree. He figures fate must also be on their side, learning that everyone happens to be free the weekend after Namjoon’s return.

That’s why it’s the “ Soulmate Telepathy Link”, hyung. We have all been destined to meet since, like, the beginning of time. Taehyung chimes in.

Yoongi likes the sound of that more than he thinks he should.

What do you guys think Yoongi hyung looks like?

While he freezes for a second as he brushes his teeth, Yoongi doesn’t say anything just yet. It’ll be fun to hear how the others have been picturing him this whole time.

I say that he’s cute, Seokjin immediately replies. Yoongi scrunches his nose at that, ignores the way his cheeks are warming up.

Cute in what way?

In the sleepy toddler that just woke up and still has no idea what the fuck is going on but just goes with it anyway kind of way. Like those videos of people feeding their children who are one blink between being awake and sleeping as they just chew sleepily.

He almost chokes on the toothpaste foam in his mouth at that, quickly moving on to spit it out and rinse.

That’s very specific, hyung.

Very specific and very right. I can feel it. Yoongi-yah, please vouch for me.

Yoongi splashes his face with water. Does it again. Once more for good measure.

How am I supposed to give you an opinion on how I look? Why didn’t we all just exchange our information at the beginning in the first place?

The mystery is half the fun! This is also way more fun than texting. As I said, I am going to make the most out of this mind link experience before we meet and it poofs away again.

Fair enough. Back to Yoongi hyung, though. I say that he’s like Jeongguk in the way that he probably only rotates through hoodies and sweats throughout the week.

I feel like there’s an insult hidden somewhere in there, Hoseok hyung.

Take it how you will, Jeongguk.

They continue to talk as Yoongi goes through the last steps of his nightly routine. He wipes down the sink counter to the sound of Taehyung and Jeongguk debating on how casual hoodies are, checks his calendar as Seokjin reminds everyone about Jeongguk’s sword, and changes into a shirt and shorts while Jimin starts talking about how he’d turn straight back around if he arrived at the beach to see Jeongguk waving around said sword.

There’s no room for silence in between Hoseok asking if the sword he bought is an actual metal sword that cuts things and Jeongguk avoiding directly saying yes to his question. Yoongi still finds himself listening along as he grabs a blanket to wrap around his shoulders before settling in front of his desk.

Namjoon cuts in to remind them that some of them still have work to do this late, a chorus of sorry ’s following even when the conversation ramps back up to its original disordered back and forth.

Yoongi squints his eyes at the light of the computer screen as he starts it up, immediately going to open the file he’d set aside at the bottom right corner of his desktop.

Seokjin’s voice easily cuts through everything else. Jeon Jeongguk, if you end up in the hospital after you somehow stab yourself with your own sword I will come as soon as I’m notified to do nothing but stand in front of your hospital bed and laugh.

And I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Okay but for real, if Jeonggukie ends up with a very real, very sharp sword what’s really stopping him from stabbing himself?

His sense of self-preservation, however weak it may be, I hope.

I don’t think I’d be stupid enough to end up stabbing myself, Namjoon hyung. I’d probably ask Tae hyung to come over once it arrives just in case.

That really does not make me feel any better.

It’s funny how endeared he’s getting over this conversation. Underneath that Yoongi thinks is a sense of worry about the sword situation, but he’ll choose to put his trust in Jeongguk’s ability to self preserve. Underneath that might be the beginnings of a feeling that he doesn’t want to name just yet.

Namjoon sighs over the link. You guys really make it hard to focus on things such as work, you know.

But you love us for it, don’t you?

Yeah, yeah. Jeongguk, please send me the link to the sword you bought so I can know whether or not I should have the hospital’s phone number memorized.

Yoongi slips his headphones on, even if it doesn’t do anything to block out Jeongguk’s promising he won’t hurt himself, and does little stretches in his seat before setting to work.

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On what the group has lovingly named the “Meeting Yoongi Beach Boogie Day”, Yoongi wakes up to a chorus of excited Good morning ’s and one I thought you’d never wake up from a just as excited Seokjin who’s tone betrays every word of his insult.

Even with how late he’d slept the night before, Yoongi finds the energy to get up and pad over to the bathroom in just five minutes.

You guys are acting like today’s a national holiday or something. Yoongi actually laughs out loud to himself, alone in his apartment at the way they’re all acting.

Hyung, you can’t tell us that you’re not excited, either. We can practically feel the excited energy from you coming through the link, Hoseok says.

Yeah, just admit that you’re excited to see all of our handsome faces in person.

Yoongi huffs. I’d rather hang out with Jeongguk as he shows me his sword than admit anything.

You wouldn’t.

Wait, why are you guys acting like that’s a bad thing?

Jeongguk, Seokjin doesn’t give anything away through his voice, please look down at your hand and tell me what you see.

… a bandage.

And why did you need to use the bandage?

I got excited with the sword and hurt myself…

Hey, I mean he lasted longer than I thought he would.

True.

I am perfectly capable of handling a sword, I just wasn’t ready that time.

Sure, but my statement still stands.

Aw, Yoongi hyung, all you have to do is say you’re excited and we’ll get off your back.

Damn, I guess you guys are gonna have to stay here and bother me for the rest of the day.

I guess we will, Jimin says with a sense of finality.

As he gets ready for the day, Yoongi doesn’t get one single moment of silence to himself. Unlike before, though, he finds himself basking in the cacophony of voices bouncing around his head.

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True to his personality, Yoongi has alway found meeting people and talking to them to be quite nerve wracking. 

There’s a lot of things that can go wrong, he’d always thought. He might end up saying something and accidentally insult someone, or he’ll say something and end up embarrassing himself. Anything that involves saying anything will somehow end up badly in one way or another.

In other words, as he sits in a bus taking him as far as it goes out to the coast, Yoongi is nervous as fuck.

Should he be this nervous? He doesn’t think he should be this nervous right now. It’s not like this is a life changing event or anything. He’s just gonna go to the beach and meet a group of men that he’s exclusively been talking to via his thoughts.

Alright, who’s on their way right now? Namjoon calls for a headcount.

I feel like somehow, this is a targeted message.

Maybe it is. Ask Jimin.

I’ll have you know that I actually left my house already. I’m gonna be picking Taehyung up and then we’ll be on our merry way to the beach.

He’s telling the truth this time, too, Seokjin hyung. Sent me a photo of him outside of the front door and everything.

Hmm… okay then. I’ve been driving for a little bit already. I’ll probably get there in like ten? Twenty minutes?

Seokjin hyung! Did you remember the picnic stuff?

Of course I remembered the picnic stuff.

Are you sure?

Yes, I even triple checked before leaving. What about you? Did you bring all of your stuff?

Uhh… yes! Wait, fuck. I wanted to stop and get sparklers. Damn. Too late now, I guess.

It seems that I’ve read your mind —Yoongi can practically feel everyone groaning at Namjoon’s comment— Because I actually just stopped and bought some sparklers.

Hyung. I think I may be in love with you.

Yeah, yeah.

Namjoon hyung barely did anything and he gets an I love you? What about the rest of us?

Uhhh, I love you guys too, I guess.

You guess? After all we’ve been through, crossing the country to meet each other weeks after we first started talking, and this is all I mean to you? Oh, wow. Suddenly there’s an extra serving of meat in the food I packed. Might as well take it for myself…

Seokjin hyung! I love you so much even more than Namjoon hyung. Like, you are the sole reason why I am still alive today.

Aw, Jeongguk-ah, I love you too. You know what? I’ll let you take the extra serving of meat.

Thanks, hyung.

You know that extra serving was already yours to begin with, right?

Yeah, I know.

Yoongi lets out a sigh, tries his best to let out all of his nerves with it. He leans his head against the window. He doesn’t mind the bumps and vibrations that much, maybe they’ll knock some sense into him.

As the conversation calms down to a null, Yoongi finds himself thinking of what Jeongguk was saying. 

He seemed to throw around love so easily. As if it was only between himself and the sky to hear rather than six other grown men. It seems nice, though, to express it so easily without fear. Yoongi tries to think of a time where he had really embraced being in love, only can imagine late nights where his room is illuminated by the dim light of his computer as he pieces together a new song.

The melody plays in his head and he tries to imagine how it would sound if it wasn’t just him singing the lines by himself.

Ooooh, Yoongi hyung, this song is fun! What’s the name of it?

Yoongi pauses, he hadn’t realized they’d all been listening. He lets down the barriers in mind just a bit too often now, he thinks. But then again, he’s finding that he’d rather talk to everyone than sit in silence, lately.

How about I just show it to you when we eat, Hoseok-ah? We can all listen to it together then.

Sure! We can all have a dance party to Yoongi hyung’s vast library of undiscovered songs, then.

Good thing we’ve decided on Yoongi to be the DJ, I’ve been getting tired of someone just looping the “Top Hits” playlist.

I don’t see you giving us anything better.  

What do all of those car rides with me on the aux say about this, then?

They say you have the same music taste as my uncle.

Yoongi laughs to himself in the back of the bus and hopes he’s not loud enough to attract the attention of anyone else. He tilts his head to look out at the scenery that blurs by, lets himself be lulled once again by everyone’s banter.

He runs through the lyrics he’d written, this time to himself.

You’re the most special person to me . The line repeats and repeats and repeats. This time, Yoongi allows himself to accept how true it is.

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When he arrives at the beach, Yoongi finds that he’s the first one there. The beach is a nice, secluded one. There are so few people that it’s not hard to realize the others haven’t gotten here yet. He’s glad for it, it gives him less of a chance to run when everyone else arrives, one by one.

He’d probably already be gone if he saw someone else waiting by the shore.

But he’s here, now. He’s waiting on the shore, staring out at the sea as a breeze blows through his hair, and it’s peaceful .

We’re here! We’re here we’re here we’re hereeeee! Jimin’s voice rings out, Taehyung’s echoing along.

How’d you guys get there so fast, didn’t you guys just leave? Namjoon sounds very concerned.

Nothing is going to keep us from you guys and the beach. Not even the law.

…Why did you say it like that? How fast were you driving?

Details aren’t important. Yoongi hyung, you’re here already, right?

Yeah, I’m here. He looks around, doesn’t find anything except for more sand and a small family a little further down the shore. Where are you guys? I’m kinda just standing here.

“Yoongi hyung!” He hears, though it’s different. It’s loud, but unlike the loud of his thoughts, it’s the type of loud of someone yelling their heart out from meters away. Rather than the crisp way everyone’s thoughts cut into each other, Taehyung’s voice mixes with the sound of the sea, the waves crashing over each other as he calls his name.

Before Yoongi can put two and two together and stop mulling over why it sounds so different, there are arms wrapping around him. The surprise weight is almost enough to make him tumble through the sand and pull these arms down with him.

“Hyung!” That’s Jimin’s voice calling out for him right before he’s hit with another weight. Yoongi thinks that his voice is so much more pleasant in person. So much more bright.

He almost doesn’t want to turn his head up to look at them, to know what they look like and have them look at him. He almost doesn’t, but someone’s arms are around him so tight that he might actually pass out from lack of oxygen.

“Hey… Hey!” He groans out, finally bringing his arms up to hug them back. “I’m happy to see you guys too, but I think a little space is also nice.”

“Oh!” The grip around his chest gets slightly more bearable, a small period of relief before there are hands cupping his face. “Oh, hyung!” Taehyung practically coos at him.

Taehyung coos, and he’s staring right at him. His eyes are running all around Yoongi’s face at a speed that he’s not even sure is slow enough to be able to properly process anything he actually sees. Yoongi watches the rapid back and forth, up and down of Taehyung’s eyes before deciding to study Taehyung’s face in return.

Yoongi takes his time, moving from eyes—Taehyung’s just got one double eyelid, just like himself—to a round nose, decorated with a beauty mark at the tip, to lips, finding even more beauty marks littered around. Just so much beauty.

“Hey,” Yoongi says again, “You’re really beautiful, Taehyung.” He doesn’t know if it has the desired effect when his cheeks are still squished between Taehyung’s hands, but Taehyung beams nonetheless.

Jimin pushes his way into Yoongi’s view not a moment later. Taehyung gives easily, giggling as Jimin takes his place, hands on Yoongi’s face and all.

“Me too. Hyung, me too.” Yoongi laughs at how earnest Jimin is. “Call me beautiful, too. I’m beautiful aren’t I?”

Yoongi smiles as wide as he can with Jimin’s hands around his face. Without a second thought, he rests his own hands on top. “You’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on,” he breathes out, watches as Jimin smiles even brighter and thinks he couldn’t be more true.

Gross. Absolutely disgusting, what you guys are thinking over there. Don’t do anymore gross shit until I get there.

It’s funny, the way they all tilt their head the second Seokjin starts talking, perhaps the equivalent of looking at who’s talking if they were actually with each other in person.

What’s funnier is the way Jimin replies, a flirty expression on his face even when Seokjin isn’t here to see it, or the way his lips don’t even do so much as twitch as his voice rings through Yoongi’s head.

Why? You want all the love to yourself? There’s lots to go around, hyung.

Taehyung wraps his arms around Jimin’s waist, his head finding its way onto his shoulder as he wags his brows.

Don’t worry your little butt, hyung. Jimin and I always have some saved especially for you.

“You better!” What’s funniest is the way that all three of them turn their heads at Seokjin’s voice, far away enough that Yoongi knows it’s not in his head, yet still loud enough that it gets their attention.

Taehyung doesn’t even give Jimin a warning to let go before he starts running toward Seokjin. “Hyung!”

And even when Seokjin is trying to fight a Taehyung who seems to want to fit into his arms the same way a small puppy would, he—just like Taehyung, just like Jimin, probably just like everyone else who still needs to come—is incredibly attractive.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about the love thing,” Seokjin laughs as Jimin jumps onto him seconds later. “Ah, I missed you guys, too.”

They almost fall over multiple times and Yoongi’s very sure that Seokjin’s feet are the only ones on the ground at multiple points, but it’s still the most amazing thing Yoongi thinks he’s ever seen in his life. He feels like he’s watching a documentary on weird bird mating rituals. He then asks himself if it’s weird that he kind of wants in on it.

Seokjin peeks through the Jimin-Taehyung mass enveloping him to look at Yoongi right then, even though Yoongi’s very sure he did not send his thoughts equating them to birds down into their link.

“Yoongi-yah, are you not going to join?”

Even then, Seokjin still manages to read his mind.

He smiles. “Of course, I am, hyung.”

.⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.

Everyone else arriving and joining their weird mating ritual one by one is a euphoric blur.

Jeongguk’s arrival is sudden and loud and Yoongi isn’t even able to remember what it was like before he came literally crashing into their arms. He has the biggest eyes that Yoongi believes are capable of holding the universe and he can’t help but stare as they shine and crinkle right at the edges with the force of Jeongguk’s smile.

Hoseok manages to announce his presence even louder than Jeongguk. He squawks at them loud enough that they all pause where they stand, and when Yoongi looks over he has to squint a little to see him with the way he’s standing right under the sun. And then Hoseok comes closer, and Yoongi realizes maybe it wasn’t just the sun.

“You guys have been cuddling?” He slips in easily, somehow wrapping his arm all of them all once. “Without me?”

Taehyung hums, “We have,” he starts, and shifts around, causing everyone else to shift in turn, “but it’s always better when you’re here.”

Jeongguk hums in agreement, Yoongi feels the vibrations of it right against his chest.

It's nicer than Yoongi would ever admit out loud. He doesn’t think he’s been this physically intimate with someone else in a while, let alone five other men.

Five. That’s almost all of them, he realizes. Just one more. One more, and they’re all here.

When Namjoon comes, it’s also loud. Even when Namjoon doesn’t even make a sound. The second Seokjin notices him walking over, it’s chaos.

“Oh, Namjoon-ah! You finally made it!” That’s all it takes for their little cuddling pod to finally break apart. Jeongguk, Taehyung, and Jimin are already yelling at the top of their lungs running over to attack before Seokjin finishes his sentence. The rest of them watch as they begin to drag Namjoon along while they talk over each other.

“Namjoonie hyung! There’s this new art exhibit open—”

“—want to show you something later—”

“—started working out, hyung?”

It’s like a walking whirlwind, getting louder and louder as it approaches. The closer they get, Yoongi manages to understand both more and less of what they’re saying to each other. The closer they get, the more Yoongi’s able to see the content look on Namjoon's face as he listens, looking right at home in the middle of all of the chaos.

He stays behind watching for a bit as Seokjin and Hoseok get sucked in one by one, again feeling like he’s watching some sort of mating ritual taking place right before his eyes as they all settle together.

“Yoongi hyung,” Namjoon calls as he’s pushed toward the outside of their huddle. When he catches his eye, Namjoon beckons him over with a tilt of his head.

Yoongi takes a few steps closer, stopping right beside him. He gets only a few seconds to stare before he’s pulled in by someone’s—Hoseok’s?—arm and finds himself squished chest to chest with Namjoon. He thinks it might be Jeongguk at his back, someone else’s hand gently resting at his waist.

He’d look to check, but Yoongi doesn’t quite want to look away from Namjoon just yet. Namjoon’s taller than him, which he should have expected, and looking up at him from this close, Yoongi can see just about every little detail.

Namjoon smiles this warm little smile down at him and then his dimples pop out and—Yoongi sucks in a breath and thinks that the others didn’t warn him about them on purpose.

“Hey, hyung.” Namjoon’s voice resonates deep and right in the core of Yoongi’s chest, it warms him up the way a nice hot drink would. “It’s nice to finally see you.”

“I could say the same thing.” For how loud everyone else is being, Yoongi can’t manage to bring his voice higher than a murmur. The only way he knows that Namjoon was able to hear is the growing smile he’s given in return.

Before either of them can say anything else, their entire huddle shifts again with only a bit more yelling, and Yoongi finds himself right in the center when they all settle down.

Seokjin and Hoseok seem to be having their turn coddling Namjoon now, sandwiching him against Yoongi’s back. Jeongguk, Taehyung, and Jimin have chosen to squish as close to Yoongi as they possibly can with it not being weird as they start talking about anything that comes to mind.

Yoongi lets himself sink into it all a little, relaxes as he listens to three different conversations at once.

It’s loud, all of them together for the first time, everyone’s excitement and joy clear in their voices as they talk and talk and talk. It’s a loud that Yoongi doesn’t quite mind, which is rare, but it makes sense. Everyone’s voices mixing together is its own song, music to his ears.

His mind, on the other hand, is quiet.

After almost two months with six other people in his head, it’s almost unsettling how quiet it is. Talking down his mental wall, he half expects a stray thought to pass through and for someone to reply, but the quiet stays.

He’s not sad, not when he’s finally met everyone in person. He thinks he’ll miss it, though.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Jimin asks from his side, his head tucked between Yoongi’s neck and shoulder. “You’d expect there to be, I don’t know, maybe some bright lights, or sparks flying between us all when we all touch. Something to show that we’re… complete.”

Yoongi nods, because everything is so normal . “I barely even noticed until just now.” Jeongguk switches spots with Seokjin, Yoongi tucking his arms closer to himself so he doesn’t get pulled away with the movement. “But now that I’ve realized, I can’t help but feel like something is missing.”

“I know, right? Even when it’s happened five times before, it always seems to leave a space behind.” Jimin sighs, tucking his head even closer to Yoongi. “It doesn’t stay empty for long, though, not when I have you guys.”

“Oooh, Jimin!” Hoseok teases, swooping in to give him kisses all over. Everyone else is quick to join in, probably also having heard their conversation.

Yoongi lets out a laugh at the way Jimin preens in the center of it all, making no effort to even pretend that he doesn’t like the attention they’re giving him. He doesn’t join in too obviously, doesn’t say anything to add to it, but instead he finds Jimin’s hand and squeezes it.

It’s—surprisingly—the first time they all cause each other to go tumbling around the sand. Jeongguk tugs at Jimin’s waist, making him lose his already unsteady balance, also making Hoseok fall over. Jimin falling also means he’s going to take Yoongi with him, and Yoongi knocks himself into Namjoon as he tries to keep from joining everyone already on the ground. Seokjin manages to be the only one left standing, laughing down at everyone until Jeongguk takes it upon himself to finish what he started by yanking Seokjin’s ankle in one swift motion.

Laying on the ground, Yoongi groans at the sharp pain coming from right under his ribs as he tilts his head to narrowly avoid getting kicked in the face by someone’s flailing leg.

If anyone else were to walk by right now, Yoongi imagines that they would see a writhing mass of arm and leg with the occasional head poking out. The thought of it, along with the ongoing high of having met his supposed soulmates, sends Yoongi into a little laughing fit. At first, it’s just little breathy giggles that make his shoulders shake. Then Jeongguk tries to stand back up, only for Seokjin to grab his ankle in what must be revenge and makes him fall straight back down.

Then it’s a guffaw that makes Yoongi close his eyes at the force of it, that makes him forget about any attempt he’d been making to stand back up.

Over the sound of his laughter, he can hear Jimin and Hoseok losing it as well. Seokjin’s cackling and Yoongi thinks he might be the one smacking at his calf. Jeongguk seems to have given up freeing himself from their sad pile, starting to laugh as well. Taehyung is giggling right in his ear and the ground underneath Yoongi is rumbling. Rumbling because underneath him isn’t actually sand, but Namjoon’s chest. If he wasn’t laughing so hard, Yoongi might have been a little flustered at the proximity.

Minus the elbow digging into his side and the pair of legs keeping him from sitting up, it’s nice. Just laying on the ground with these beautiful, beautiful people laughing like it’s the only thing he knows how to do.

He could listen to this all day. He could do this all day.

.⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆.

Eating is the only time everyone becomes just as silent as Yoongi’s mind has been left. After they all manage to calm down, it’s an unspoken agreement their next move will be food. They all work quickly, cleaning themselves up and setting up a little blanket spot faster than Yoongi would ever expect for so many people on one task.

Between bites, the conversation they have is light, full of jokes and catching each other up even when all of them but Yoongi have been in contact before.

They claim it’s not the same, not when they aren’t together in person. And after meeting them, Yoongi can understand where they’re coming from. If it were anything close to the same, maybe then he would have been a little more prepared for this entire day.

“Hyung!” Jeongguk suddenly perks up from his food almost-coma, gaining some form of a response from everyone sitting on the blanket around him. “Oh.” He blinks, remembering who he’s with. “Yoongi hyung.”

“Yeah?” Everyone turns to him in sync, his cheeks growing warmer at the attention.

Jeongguk shuffles a little closer, close enough that he can rest his head on Yoongi’s lap. “That song.” He looks up at Yoongi. “You said you’d show it to us.”

Yoongi stares, doesn’t know what to do with his hands. They just hover over Jeongguk before one awkwardly finds a place in his hair and the other rests on his chest. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.” Jeongguk nods as best as he can with his head still in Yoongi’s lap.

Jimin bumps shoulders with Yoongi, nodding along as well. “Yes! Please play it for us before we knock out from all of the food we ate,” he says before slumping against Taehyung’s leg for added effect.

“Well,” Yoongi starts, drags it out because he doesn’t know what to say. He didn’t expect anyone to remember, or actually look forward to something as simple as him sharing a song. “The song is actually one of my own. I started working on it a little bit ago after I got inspired.”

“Oooh, and what was your inspiration, Yoongi-yah?” Seokjin asks from across the blanket, but the smile on his face is telling him that he already knows the answer.

Yoongi ducks his head to the side, not looking at anyone when he answers, “You guys were.”

The reaction he gets is similar to the one Jimin had gotten for his cute comment earlier, but toned down now that they’re calmer. He still gets coddled enough to make his nose scrunch, though.

“Wow, I can’t believe I can say that I’ve had a song written about me,” Taehyung says into the group. He tilts his head into Yoongi’s line of sight, “Now you have to show us, hyung.” He smiles. “I want to know how you translate feelings into song. It’s probably amazing.”

Yoongi can’t help but smile just a little at the praise, tilting his head away in a different direction. “It’s still rough. I haven’t gotten anyone to do the full vocals or anything yet. It’s just me singing the entire demo track.”

“Nonsense!” Taehyung says back, followed by the collective agreement of everyone else.

“Hyung.” Hoseok taps at his ankle. “Knowing you, it’s still great. You have, like, magic at the tips of your fingers.” He wiggles his own for show. “Anything you touch becomes a masterpiece.” He sounds so sure of it, and Yoongi doesn’t think he’s shown them any of his work before, but he believes him.

Namjoon steals the hand that was resting on Jeongguk’s chest, holds it between both of his own. “We’ve all been inside your mind, hyung. Trust us when we say we’re sure what you’ve made is wonderful.”

“But if you really aren’t ready to share it, it’s no rush,” Seokjin reassures. “We’re all very patient here.”

Jeongguk snorts. “Uh huh.”

“We are!” Seokjin narrows his eyes at Jeongguk, they flick over Jimin and Taehyung before immediately turning back to Yoongi. “For the most part,” he corrects with a smile.

Yoongi laughs along with Namjoon and Hoseok, while Jimin and Taehyung seem to purposely ignore the meaning behind Seokjin’s look. Without another word, he takes his phone out of his pocket and begins making his way to his files. “Any of you guys happen to have brought a speaker along with you?”

Hoseok makes a series of cute noises as he searches through his bag, and makes a final noise of triumph as he presents the speaker to Yoongi.

“Thanks, Hoseok-ah.” He makes quick work of connecting it to his phone, can practically feel everyone’s anticipation filling the air as he does. He’s never shown his music to anyone before he’s finished it, and yet, he doesn’t feel as nervous as he thought he would. There’s just the same buzz of anticipation he feels around him right at his fingertips. “Don’t make fun of my singing, alright?” he jokes around a shy smile.

He taps play.

Throughout the entire song, Yoongi keeps his eyes on the sea, the back and forth of the waves as they roll over each other. Something about watching someone listen to your own song—your incomplete song—just makes him feel weird.

Nobody says anything as the song plays. He doesn’t know whether to take it as a good sign or not. Doesn’t know whether they’re too focused on the song to say anything or just don’t have anything to say.

Yoongi gets his answer when the song ends. The second it fades out, Hoseok is jumping on him without care for anyone in his path. Jeongguk coos from where he’s still in his lap. He can barely make out what either of them is saying over each other. Hoseok gets squished against his chest when Taehyung rests on top of him, Jimin’s head peeking out from behind.

“Hey, hey! Give your hyung some space, would you?” Seokjin makes quick work of pulling everyone away. Before Yoongi has a chance to thank him after he lifts Jeongguk off, Seokjin leans in, a soft smile on his face. “I loved your song, Yoongi-yah.”

Without even thinking, he lets out a “Thanks, hyung.” He sighs a little when Seokjin settles back.

“Okay.” Seokjin gestures toward Yoongi. “Now that I’ve gotten to him first, you guys can have your turn now,” he says, settling back on his hands and looking very pleased.

That gains him a collective booing from the rest of the guys, and a thrown paper plate to the chest from Jeongguk. “What is with you and wanting to be first so much? What do you gain, hyung?” he whines, though none of them seem truly upset.

Seokjin shrugs as he laughs, sending the plate flying back toward Jeongguk like a frisbee. “I just like being first. And from that, I gain the peace of mind that comes with.”

“You know I don’t really care about who does whatever first, right?” Yoongi asks.

“Of course I do. This is a matter of my pride, Yoongi. If I’m not first, then what’s the point?”

Taehyung shuffles a little where he’s sitting, reaching over to pick up a leftover strawberry. “Even if you aren’t first, you’re always gonna be hot as fuck, hyung.” He pops the strawberry into his mouth.

“Ah, Taehyung-ah.” Seokjin places a hand dramatically over his heart. “You always know what to say.”

Jimin giggles into Taehyung’s shoulder before looking at Seokjin. “Would our hot hyung like to play in the water with us?”

“Would I?” Seokjin stands, grabbing a hand each as he pulls Jimin and Taehyung up off the blanket and down toward the ocean, their laughs mixing with the lull of the waves as they start splashing around.

Namjoon silently fills the new space beside Yoongi. He doesn’t lean too close, not like Jimin or Jeongguk would, but settles close enough. “Thanks, hyung,” he says out into the distance, “for the song. It feels like… It feels exactly like this.” He’s staring out at where Hoseok and Jeongguk have started kicking up sand at each other. “It feels like us.”

Jeongguk tackles Hoseok into the sand, Yoongi smiles. “That’s good to know, considering that was what I was going for.”

“I think you hit your target pretty straight on.” Wordlessly, Namjoon grabs Yoongi’s phone, presses play again. Yoongi’s voice, his music, his heart rings out on the beach. “Out of all of the people that could have been our seventh, I’m glad it was you, hyung. You’re what we all needed to be complete.”

“You’re speaking for everyone?” His fingers are tapping against his thigh in time with the music, Yoongi doesn’t even notice until Namjoon places his hand on top.

Hoseok and Jeongguk have joined Seokjin, Jimin, and Taehyung in the water. All together they’re even louder than before. Seokjin looks to be soaking wet, everyone else crying out as they try to avoid him.

“I think you can see it, can’t you? It really isn’t something you’d need to read their minds to know.” Namjoon gives him a soft smile before turning out to look at the others. He meets Seokjin’s eye, smiles even wider after he’s given a look.

“Do you always make jokes about the mind-reading and the sharing thoughts?” Yoongi huffs a laugh at him. “But yeah, I think I can.” Seokjin is saying something to everyone now. Whatever he says is convincing enough to get them out of the water and back over to him and Namjoon.

“Hyung!” Jeongguk is running up to both of them, and Yoongi is unsure who he’s exactly referring to.

He stops a little in front, waiting for everyone else to catch up. “Hey, Jeongguk-ah,” Yoongi smiles, “back so soon?” He doesn’t think much of the way Namjoon is slowly shifting away from him toward the others.

“Just for a hot second. I left something here I wanted to bring into the water.” Jeongguk gives him a very suspicious smile.

Yoongi narrows his eyes just as everyone else makes it to the blanket. “What’d you leave?”

Jeongguk’s smile grows, Seokjin inches just slightly closer. “You.” And then they’re both rushing him, picking him up off the blanket before he’s even fully realized what’s happening.

“What—” He turns his head, sees that they’re carrying him out to the sea. “Hey, hey!”

“Think of this as a sort of initiation, hyung,” Namjoon says from behind. “We all got thrown into the ocean the day we met.”

“I got a starfish stuck on my face when I got thrown in,” Hoseok adds, sounding lost in memory as he walks alongside them.

“Jimin and I dunked each other in when we first met.” Taehyung switches with Seokjin, grabbing ahold of Yoongi’s legs. He stopped struggling seconds after he got picked up, had quickly accepted his fate. It helps when everyone sounds so happy about it. “It was on accident, but we decided to keep the tradition going.”

Jeongguk cackles as they approach the water. “It’s a fun tradition, at least.”

“That’s because you enjoy throwing people too much,” Seokjin chides, still a bit wet, but seemingly unaffected by the cold.

“I can’t say that you’re wrong, Seokjin hyung,” Jeongguk says as he and Taehyung start swinging Yoongi over the waves rolling in.

“Woah, woah, wait!” He was okay with this before, but feeling the spray of saltwater on skin, being swung back and forth above it, Yoongi isn’t sure he wants to get wet anymore. “Hey, wait wait wait—!”

Yoongi sputters as he hits the water, cold and salty in his mouth, his clothes getting uncomfortably wet in a matter of seconds. As he tries wiping water off his face, another wave hits right then, splashing even more water before he scrambles to stand up.

Finally wiping the water away from his eyes, he blinks them open to be met with six beaming smiles and loud, loud, loud laughter. He really can’t help but smile back at them and laugh along, kicking some water up at them because he and Seokjin will not be the only ones leaving dripping wet.

Someone splashes back, so Yoongi splashes again, and then they’re all splashing at each other.

Splashing mixes with yelling, mixes with laughter and the constant rushing of waves against waves, mixes with Yoongi’s song still playing in the background, just barely reaching the last chorus, just barely able to be heard through everything else.

Together, it’s music to his ears. Yoongi knows he would take this over silence any day.