«Ένα από τα μεγαλύτερα ταξίδια στη ζωή είναι να ξεπεραστεί η ανασφάλεια και να μάθεις να μην κάνεις τίποτα.»

❝One of the greatest journeys in life is overcoming insecurity and learning to truly not give a shit.❞

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Yoongi was nervous. 

He knew he would fuck this up like every other time he tries. 

Just this morning, Jin had called Yoongi asking him to go to Hobi's house for a little 'chat' with his soulmate. Ever since that one phone call, Yoongi has been nothing but a bundle of nerves. 

"Hey, stop being such a scaredy-cat!" Ara chuckled. "Get it? Scaredy-cat! Come on, meow meow. I don't know cat language, but I know you're nervous, but I can also tell this is going to go completely fine. After all, he's only your soulmate, not your soulmate's parents!" 

"Call me a cat one more time, and I'll make sure I send a whole army of cats to hunt you down!" He glared at her, and she winced. 

"Hey!" She smacked the back of his head, "You know I'm scared of cats," and pouted. 

"Exactly, so stop calling me a fucking cat!" He scrunched his nose, and Ara rolled his eyes. 

"Fine!" She huffed. "Anyways, you should get your tiny ass going before Hobi changes his mind," she scoffed, and he groaned as he stuffed his face onto a pillow. 

"I'm going to mess this up, Ara! Why the fuck would he want to talk to me, anyway? I can't handle this, Ara! I want him to love me! Is that too much to ask for?" He whined out loud, and Ara covered her ears in annoyance. 

Once his loud whining became tiny sobs, she sighed. "Are you sure you're not on your man period, cause man, your mood swings are worse than mine!" 

His head whipped around, and Ara shrieked as she ran out of the room. 

An hour later, Yoongi was standing outside his soulmate's house. 

His fingers trembled as they reached over to the doorbell, having second thoughts. "Should I be here right now? What if I turn around and go back home and sleep for the rest of the day?" 

Right then, the door opened, and he gasped. "Don't overthink it, just come in already, geez." 

"Jin hyung? I thought you said Hobi and I had some privacy," Yoongi crossed his arms, and Jin stifled a laugh. 

"Dude, I was just leaving, oh my God. Oh, and please keep things PG in here," he laughed, and Yoongi rolled his eyes. 

"JIN HYUNG! LEAVE HIM ALONE, ALREADY!" A yell, which sounded like Hobi's, came from inside the house, and Yoongi blushed at his words. 

"I'm leaving!" Jin yelled back and patted Yoongi's shoulder before rushing out of the house. Yoongi watched as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialed a number, and spoke, "Ara! Wanna hang out?" 

Chuckling to himself, he turned back around to the door of Hobi's house. He then took a deep breath in and stepped into the house, muttering a silent prayer for things between them to go well. 

"H-hey." 

Hoseok had just come out of his room after chewing on his nails nervously. He had been pacing around the room for an hour before Yoongi had arrived. 

"H-hi. W-what did you wanna talk about?" Yoongi asked as he fiddled with his fingers. 

"Uhh, nothing much actually. I thought maybe we should get to know each other properly since I've been avoiding you for a while now." His smile seemed genuine but hid a lot of anxiety behind it. "Sorry about that, I-I hadn't, in fact, imagined my soulmate to be a guy," he apologized as he led Yoongi to his room. 

"I get it, and it's fine. Any straight guy would be surprised," Yoongi chuckled under his breath, and Hobi sighed. 

"Uhh, s-sit down. I'm sorry I called you on such short notice. Did you have other things to do?" He inquired, and Yoongi rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Well, uh, I-I had to meet up with my group for a d-discussion about one of our performances, but it's fine. I canceled on them last minute." He admitted, and Hobi's lips parted in shock. 

"Ohh, y-you canceled on t-them to talk to m-me?" 

Yoongi nodded, not making eye contact with Hobi. 

"T-thank you. I'm sorry you had to cancel, but I think I honestly needed to talk to you after I've been so hostile since the day we met," he confessed. 

"It's okay, Hobi." Yoongi looked up and smiled, and Hoseok's lips curled into a smile as his gums made an appearance. 

"So..." Hobi faltered, not knowing where to begin. "Jin hyung must have told you that I'm straight, right?" He chuckled awkwardly, and Yoongi hummed. "Yeah, but the thing is-" 

"You had to go through therapy, I know." 

Hobi put his right-hand fingers on his neck, tracing lines on them, as he hummed. 

"Been there," Yoongi chuckled dryly, and Hobi's eyes widened. 

"Wait, what? What do you mean, you've been there? Have you gone through therapy too?" He urged, and Yoongi hummed. 

"My parents were just like yours, Hobi. They're so fucking homophobic, it makes me sick!" He scowled. "They made me go for therapy when they found out I'm bisexual. They made me think it was my fault for liking both boys and girls. Hell, they even tried to make me sleep with one of my cousins!" 

Hobi was in tears by now. He hadn't known that Yoongi had to go through the same horrible things he had to. 

Yoongi survived it, though. But he couldn't. 

"H-Hobi?" Yoongi called out once he noticed Hobi's eyes welling up with tears. "Omo, I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean t-to make y-you cry," he hurriedly apologized, and Hobi shook his head. 

"No, no, I'm fine. I-I'm sorry, I just got emotional," he chuckled and wiped his tears off. "You survived the therapy, hyung, but I couldn't. I don't wanna be like this, hyung. I really don't wanna be like this, but I can always only listen to my parents," he complained. 

"Hobi," Yoongi scooted a little closer and hesitantly took Hobi's hands in his. "It's alright to cry, Hobi. Let it all out. I'll listen to you when no one else does. Not as a soulmate but as a friend. I'm in no position to make you jump into a relationship with me already. I'll wait for you for as long as it takes. 

"I want you to know that no matter what you're facing, it's always okay to cry and let it out. I'll be here for you, no matter what. Ara, Jin hyung, Namjoon, and Mina will be there for you, no matter what. Trust me when I tell you that everything's gonna be fine." He smiled. 

"My parents are not gonna be happy about it," Hobi sighed and then turned to Yoongi again, "How do you parents treat you now after the therapy failed on you?" 

Yoongi scoffed and shook his head. "It's been a while since I last talked to them, Hobi. They, uh..." he paused, "let's just say, they disowned me. I ran away from home, Hobi. I ran away from Daegu and settled here in Seoul, on my own. I left to follow my dreams and to be myself for who I truly am," he confided in Hobi, who was stunned at his words. 

"You don't have to say anything. I told you that because you need to know that you're not alone and that it's absolutely fine to give things up for your own benefit. In my case, I gave up having a family to fulfill my own dreams. I'm sure that if I go back to my parents now, they'd still hate me for being 'abnormal' as they call it. 

"It's not that I never loved my parents. I loved them so much, up until they called me a disgrace to their family and when they sent me for therapy because they thought I was fucking sick. 

"Hobi, what I'm trying to say is that no matter what happens, you matter. Your dreams deserve to be fulfilled. You deserve to have a life of your own and not a world which others design for you. You should live for yourself, Hobi, not for others. And when everyone else turns their back on you, I'll be right beside you through your journey of insecurity and self-hatred." A tear slipped past Yoongi's eyes as he smiled at Hobi. 

Hobi returned the smile sweetly, and without much thought, he brought his hands up to Yoongi's face and wiped the tears off. Yoongi flinched the slightest bit but relaxed at his soft, friendly touch. 

"So, what are you gonna do now, Hobi?" Yoongi whispered. 

Taking a deep breath and sighing to himself, he put on a smile and answered Yoongi. 

"I'm gonna follow my dreams and live my life, my way!" 

x Chapter Eighteen x