MJ's POV

"Hey, JB, thank you for agreeing to take care of the exhibition yesterday, I would've panicked otherwise" I say into the phone, a loud sigh following. "It's no problem. She worked so hard, it's the least I can do. How is she?" he asks and I look at the closed door. "Not so good. It's the first time I hear her think about her family that way. I don't know what happened, but it's like some walls broke down and raised back up around her, locking her in the memory". There's silence as we think about it.

"Do you think her bonding with her soulmates allowed her old locked memories to come back to the surface?" he finally asks and I nod. That could make sense. "It would explain why she never really talked about her family, how she ended up alone so young. No one really knows what happened, it was like she didn't even remember herself but it all came crashing down on her at once".

Namjoon comes out of her room with tired eyes and falls on the couch. "Can I ask you to watch over the exhibition today too? I have to do something so I need to go". "No problem, take care of her, MJ". I end the call and take a seat next to Namjoon.

I can't help but hear some of his thoughts, loud and pained thoughts grazing over my senses. "How is she?" I ask in a small voice and he looks at me. His eyes are glazed and empty. He shakes his head. "She comes and goes, we have an idea that could work, but we need to get her to agree, we're not doing this without her consent". I frown. "What kind of idea?" He shuffles a bit on the couch to be comfortable. "Jungkook can see and modify memories. Change the outcome, how it happened, the circumstances. He's never really used it, he hates the idea of having that kind of control, but the situation makes us think that this might be the only way to get her out of it".

My eyes widen. "In what state is she right now?". He tilts his head slightly. "Rather calm, it doesn't feel overwhelming right now". I jump up on my feet and run towards the room and he hurries after me. "You want to know if she agrees right? Let's try to ask her and see if I can hear her".

I open the door to see her soulmates spread around the room, all passed out cold. Eunwoo is watching over her vitals while Jungkook is resting, Moonbin and Sanha cuddling her weak body to allow her some relief while the others recover. It was a long night after all. Rocky and JinJin had to go to work, but they'd leave early today, their tired bodies wouldn't be able to handle much.

Namjoon crouches in front of her and takes one of her hands in his. "Bun, baby, can you hear me?" he starts and I concentrate on her, try to slip into her barriers to be within reach of her thoughts. I feel her attention shuffle, stuck between a dream and the reality. "It got her attention" I whisper and Namjoon nods.

"Baby, we really want to help you. You see, Jungkook has the ability to modify memories. Yours seem to hurt a lot and we don't know how else to help you, Bun. Can you give us permission to change it? We can make it better, hide the bad, give you peace". His hold on her hand tightens, like he fears her response.

I can feel her hesitation. Her shaky thoughts multiply and I have to hold on to not be swept away. But I catch one of them. "Would that be a good idea?". I step forward. "It would, Y/N. We can't let you stray away deeper than you are right now. Let us help you" I say and I feel hope come back when she agrees. "She said yes" I murmur and Namjoon smiles widely.

Her soulmates all wake up slowly, Namjoon's feeling affecting the bond and making them react to it. "Jungkook, Kookie, Bunny, she said yes, you can modify her memory" he says, voice excited and Jungkook's eyes widen before he hurries to take place by her side. Moonbin, Sanha and Eunwoo step back to give them the space around her and the group of soulmates circle around her just like during the night.

Except this time, it's Jungkook who takes her body between his arms, her head resting on his shoulder while the others look over with worried but hopeful eyes, all having a hand on her somewhere.

"We'll be with you all the way, the both of you" Jin whispers and Jungkook nods, eyes determined to see this through.

Jungkook's POV

When I feel her body in my arms,  I make myself comfortable, feel the security in the bond, a link to bring me back when I'm done, I establish a connection with her soul. If she was able to hear and reply, then she would be able to accept the connection, let me in her memory and give me control.

But I've never tried on my soulmates, I don't know how different it's going to be, so when the connection gets confirmed and I'm pulled into her past, when I end up in front of a young girl staring straight at me with tears in her eyes, when I see her small body run up to me and jump in my arms, holding on around my neck, her body shaking with strong sobs, I'm taken by surprise. Surprised to see that I've also given her control over her own memory, allowing her to shake free of the repetitive scenario that usually takes place.

"Jungkook" she cries in my ears, her small voice breaking my heart. I wrap my arms around her small body after helping her wrap her legs around me to not slip. "I'm here, Marshmallow, it's gonna be fine, I'm here" I whisper and let her take all the time she needs to calm down. In the meantime, I look around me to see people behind us, smiles on their faces, young and old alike, everyone seems to be happy. The time has frozen, but it seems the worse has yet to happen. I see a bridge not too far from here and can't help but wish we were here under other circumstances to enjoy the view.

She hiccups in my ear and looks back at me with tiny red eyes, looking as if she still can't believe that I'm here. "I'm scared... I don't want to see them die again" she whimpers and I feel myself tear up. How I wish I could hide her from this. "We'll go through this together, I won't leave you alone, never" I say, trying to give as much love as possible through the bond, knowing that right now it can reach her because we're together, connected.

She nods and hides her face in my neck. And the memory resumes. I keep her in my arms as we walk forward. This won't change her memory, the way people react around her will stay the same, so I take that time to give her the warmth she had craved during the worst.

I feel tears on my skin and I realize she's staring at their faces. Taking in their expressions, their laughs instead of running away. Ghosts of herself appear from time to time for the crucial parts, when she takes pictures, when she interacts with them.

The apprehension makes my heart beat faster, when we get on the bridge, when she begs me to reach the other side as fast as possible, when the ghost of herself runs to the other side, when we stand behind her, when the loud cracks resonates in the air. I feel my knees give up under me as I bring the both of us to the ground, when I hear her screams, lungs powering through the lack of air to express her despair.

I feel her shake in my arms, when she cries loudly, not able to watch anymore. I make her look at me as I put my hands on her ears but her eyes are shut tight, fat tears running down her cheeks. What we felt last night is nothing compared to what goes through the bond right now. How shattered she is, broken, it's a hundred times worse than what we felt. She went though this over and over again, alone.

I kiss her face, her nose, cheeks, forehead, try to give her some solace in the middle of it all. She leans against my body, her small body almost out of view under my arms. I look up at the scene in front of me. And I start deconstructing the memory. I put a line between the good and the bad. I get rid of the scene that just happened.

The screams, I erase them. The broken bridge, never broken. I create smiles, laughter, giggles. I don't create more, because this doesn't bring them back, they still died during this day. I instead put a stamp at the end, a reminder that this is my doing, that this isn't the real reality. That should she ever want to remember, I can reconstruct the memory the way it truly happened, when she's ready. I want her to remember that I had to do this, without remembering what truly happened.

When she looks at me with tired eyes, but a little smile on her lips, I know she's going to get out of here, she'll come back to us. I kiss her nose one last time as her eyes shut, as her body goes limp, her slow breathing a sigh that she fell asleep, and I come back to reality, where she's waiting for me.

Your POV

When my eyes open, it's to see the faces of my soulmates. The light that flashes through their eyes, the tears that appear at the corners, the mouths that shake into smiles, the arms that envelop me from all sides, the heart that beats behind me.

I'm back. Back from a misery that I know happened. The stamp that Jungkook put a reminder that it was that bad, but the happiness I feel from not seeing how they died, not remembering how it happened, it's like a huge weight was taken off my shoulders.

The heavy relief and love and sadness and hurt all hit me like a wave through the bond and I know they suffered just as much. I open my arms, letting them in, I try to make them feel that I'm fine now, I'm content, comforted.

I hear the door close, find that we are alone, giving us a chance to take in the moment as soulmates, an intimate moment shared only between us.

"I'm so, so sorry" I whisper, I can feel how tired and broken they are, how much it affected them, me. Jin shakes his head quickly as he runs a hand in my hair. "Not your fault, Hun, never your fault". And we stay like that, sobs breaking the silence, but hearts consoled and mended.

So when we all calm down, when we break the hug to look at each other with wide smiles, Jungkook's head on top of mine, his arms not ready to let me go just yet, I watch as one after the other, my soulmates fall asleep. Jungkook too, his arms suddenly falling from my waist, his body wobbling to one side, I gently lean back to let his body fall comfortably on the bed. I stand up from the middle of the group to set my biggest blanket from the pantry on their bodies.

I take the time to stare at each of their faces. Slide a hand on their cheeks, leave a kiss on their forehead, tell them how thankful I am. That they can rest now, I'll be fine.

And when my eyes fall on the clock by the bed, when I see the small Sunday showing on top of the time, when I realize that the exhibition is almost over, that I missed all of it, that my soulmates are supposed to be leaving today, I try my hardest to contain my emotions from seeping into the bond and I leave the room.

And I see my brothers in the living room, tired but waiting for me. And when they see me, the speed they use to pull me into their arms take my breath away. I feel their shaking bodies, know that their souls are still anxious. We're not bonded, they can't feel how appeased I am right now. So I tighten my hold around them, whisper sweet words into their ears, kiss their cheeks, let them know that I'm fine.

When Eunwoo takes me away from the group to cry in my arms, his tall body suddenly small in my arms, I can't help but cry with him. How many times am I going to scare him like that? I wish I could be happy, normal and let them free of having to worry about me all the time.

And MJ's hand falls on my shoulder, his voice resonating in my ears, telling me how much they love us, that they don't care how much they have to suffer, that as long as I stay by their side, hug them, smile at them, nothing else matters.

And when Rocky and JinJin come back from work to see me up, standing on my own, they run to me, make me captive into their arms, the strength they use a sign that they're not ready to let go just yet. The six of them stick to me like glue until they themselves get close to passing out.

So I send them to bed, tell them to sleep, because I don't want to deal with them sleeping on the floor in the middle of the living room.

And it's with light chuckles, warm hearts that they kiss me on the nose, hugging me one last time before falling asleep straight away on their beds.

And I look around me, realize that I'm now the only one awake. I sit on the couch and stare at the ceiling. And I wonder.

Why did that particular memory come back like that? Why did it come back at all? It was locked away, I never wanted to relive it ever again. So why?

Because I remember when a psychologist had asked me if I wanted to seal that memory away, to be free of it. When he told me that only someone with his ability could unlock it again. I had agreed. So who..?