ALWAYS
✦ pairing: Vernon x reader
✦ genre: soulmate au, fluff, found family, angst, accident, hospital
✦ word count: 4.1k
✦ note: tell a friend to tell a friend, she's baaaaaaaaack!! I've rewritten this a thousand times, give me all the feedback you have, I'm desperate to hear what you think cause: ugh I love them!!
✦ reading order: Hoshi ✦ Jun ✦ Jeonghan ✦ Woozi ✦ Minghao ✦ Dino ✦ Wonwoo ✦ Dokyeom ✦ Seungkwan ✦ The article ✦ Scoups ✦ Joshua ✦ Vernon ✦ Mingyu ✦
Vernon had always been known as a very nonchalant and chill guy to all those who knew him.
What most people didn’t know was that he in fact loved deeper and protected those that he loved more than people usually noticed.
The love he showed people was quiet.
He showed it when he was a child whenever he took his sister's hand when they crossed the street. He showed it in how his door was always open if she had a nightmare or how he would help her with eating her vegetables when their parents looked the other way.
He showed love to his parents by listening to what they told him, he showed it to his friends when they were bullied and he stood up for them.
And when you and your family had moved in next door he had shown love by memorizing every single thing that you loved. Everything from the white flowers in his mothers garden, to the kind of chocolate you would always pick out from a bowl of sweets before anything else.
Vernon showed love in a lot of different ways, and he had known from the moment he met you, that he loved you.
The two of you had always understood each other, unlike most people you were not put off by his quiet nature. Instead you saw it as a safe place to be yourself, which had always meant you would talk his ear off with whatever had caught your attention that day or week.
And his favorite pastime was to listen to the things you had discovered and the things that brought you joy.
It didn’t matter to him that people didn’t understand him or his soul, because as long as you did, he knew that he would be okay.
As he had grown older his thirteenth birthday had started to loom over him as a dark cloud, it held so much promise and so much anxiety. So when he had woken without any kind of mark he had been a little disappointed at first.
But when your birthday had come and gone and no mark was on your skin either he clinged to the hope that the two of you were in fact each other’s other halves.
The days following he had started to notice that he hurt himself more often than usual, which was weird because the pain usually seemed to come at times where he was certain he did in fact not stump his own toe.
And when he started to notice the bruises on your legs seemed to match where he hurt himself that hope in his chest grew, and despite that he grew more and more certain for each passing day, he never spoke up.
When Vernon had left his home behind to train under Pledis the two of you had hugged each other goodbye with tears in your eyes. And you had squeezed his hand thrice.
“It means that I miss you, and that I love you” you had said with a blush on your cheeks.
His heart had felt like it was about to explode right then and there. All he did was return the three squeezes and as soon as he had, he had caught you as you once again threw yourself into his arms.
The training was hard, it took stamina, motivation and a tough skin. The guys were all kind, and as the days passed they all got closer and closer.
When the talk of their soulmate marks finally came he had chosen to keep you to himself, not because you were a secret, they had all heard the stories of his best friend back home, but he was not ready to share the hope in his heart with anyone yet.
He was not ready for anyone to pressure him to confess the feelings he had. He was not ready for anyone to push him down a hole of despair if he was wrong. So instead his brothers knew you as his best friend.
It took years before anyone finally noticed how his eyes shone brighter when he talked about you, and how he had a special smile and laugh reserved for whenever he talked to you.
Joshua had been sitting in the studio while Minghao was in the booth, quietly observing his younger brother as you had been talking to one another on a facetime call. It had become a weekly occurrence after you had moved overseas. One he had explained as just wanting to keep in touch with an old friend, when Mingyu had asked with suspiciously raised brows.
As the time difference finally caught up to you, and you had fallen asleep, Joshua had seen how Vernon's hand had reached out to gently caress your cheek on the screen before silencing the call to not disturb your sleep.
“You love her” he had said with a quiet voice.
Vernon's head had quickly turned towards his brother in a panic, cheeks reddening as his brain tried to come up with an excuse for the action.
Joshua had only smiled at his brother. “Is she your soulmate?” He had asked as he crooked his head a little to the left.
Vernon had coughed once. “I don’t know”
“She’s your best friend, how can you not know?”
He shrugged once as he completely left Minghao behind in the booth, leaving the man as one giant question mark when no music and no direction came his way.
“We’ve never discussed it. I’ve never had the heart to talk to her about it, because what if she’s not? It would be devastating knowing she belonged to someone else, that she wasn’t mine…”
He looked down at his hands, completely avoiding his brother's gaze. Then the door opened and Minghao stepped in, and just as he was about to scold his producer for the day, he physically felt the tension in the room, and locked in.
“But what if she is?” Joshua said as he moved over on the couch to make room for Minghao.
Vernon buried his head in his hands as he took a deep breath.
“Leave him Joshua, love is difficult enough, and I’m sure he has thought over every scenario more than a thousand times”
He quickly looked up at his two brothers with raised brows. “How did you know?”
Minghao only laughed. “You’re not exactly subtle you know? If it helps I’m pretty sure the feelings are reciprocated”
That sentence made him smile as he leaned back in his chair and once again looked at your sleeping face on his phone screen.
“They say you can physically feel a pull in your chest when you meet your soulmate, do you feel that with her?” Joshua asked.
He nodded. “I’ve felt that with her since before I got my mark, but it’s been so long I’m not sure if it’s something I’ve made up or if it’s actually there”
Minghao nodded before he once again stood up. “You won't know until you tell her”
Much like Vernon you were terrified that a confession would lead to you losing your best friend, because what if his mark was different from yours? It would be the biggest heartbreak.
So instead you had been subtle with your interest in him. You complimented for his music, which only seemed to make him pursue it more and suddenly he told you that he had taken your advice and had started producing and writing music.
You complimented his clothes one time and now it seemed that his entire closet was only filled with polo shirts and jeans.
You had thanked him one morning for staying on facetime with you even though you had slept for hours, and now he refused to be the one to hang up.
It was these small things that always made you wonder if he did in fact love you the way you had always loved him.
From the very beginning there had been a pull there, something that made you look twice whenever you heard his voice. A pull that made you know he had entered a room before he made himself known.
When his mark came he said nothing, and when yours came he didn’t say a single thing either. For a while you wondered if that meant he didn’t want it to be you, but he only seemed to give you more attention from that day.
When he moved away a part of your heart had moved with him, it felt as if you weren’t quite whole, and when you moved overseas that feeling had taken up more and more space in that uncomplete heart of yours.
But those three squeezes you had given his hand when he had left, was now a part of your daily routine, because he had started to pinch his own hand thrice afterwards, an action you felt everyday.
When the guys started to find their other halves Vernon started to yearn for you even more than he had done before.
Both Minghao and Joshua had been slightly annoyed with him at first, his other half was right there, loving him just as he loved her, yet he refused to do anything about it.
Their annoyance had however disappeared as soon as they had found their other halves. Which had led to that exact moment of him now waiting for you in an airport.
He had invited you to stay with him a few weeks after Joshua had found his other half. You had some time off, and he missed you so terribly that he had personally bankrolled your entire trip.
Despite all of your protests, you had let him spoil you, because you too wanted to see him.
Vernon wasn’t one to run to you in the airport, instead he stood in a corner with crossed arms, and the second you were within reach he had pulled you as physically close to him as he could.
Letting the smell of you engulf him as he took a minute to breath you in, all the while he tried his best to convince that little heart of his to calm down.
It was as if a part of his soul had returned to him, as if he for the first time in a year could take a full breath.
As the two of you pulled away from one another, he gently took your suitcase and with your now free arm you grabbed onto him as if you had done it every day of your life. You felt him stiffen beneath your touch, and for a second you considered if it was too much too soon.
But as soon as you started to let go of him, he captured your arm with his own, and you soon felt the two of you relax into each other's touch.
You had decided on the flight that this was the trip where you found out just who he was to you. If he was your other half, if he was your person.
The two of you talked all the way back to his apartment, and due to all the late night and early morning facetime calls there was no real awkward silence. You just picked up the conversation right where you had left it.
When you got there your stomach made a loud sound and you went straight for the kitchen, and slowly started pulling ingredients out of the cupboards all the while he sat down at the kitchen island to keep you company.
It was so natural being with him. It was a feeling of being both safe and feeling utterly excited all at once.
His phone made a sound. Have you confessed yet? the message read from Joshua.
He quickly shut his phone off, it didn’t matter that you were too occupied with making dinner and couldn’t see it.
No, he had planned all of this out. Tonight he wanted to just enjoy the two of you together, and tomorrow he would take you on a trip down memory lane, a trip through your friendship with one another, a trip through every major emotion he had ever felt towards you, and then he would…
He felt the gust of wind coming from the door of the fridge as you slammed it shut. But before he had a chance to even look up and figure out just what you were doing, he felt the pain.
The pain of four of his fingers being caught in the door of a fridge. He winced from it, and without even thinking about it he was right there by your side in a second.
“Are you hurt?” he scanned your face, as he saw how the tears welled in your eyes.
His own hurt hand came to caress your cheek, and dry the tears away.
“What the hell are you thinking darling?” His eyes searched yours for answers as you didn’t answer him with words.
Your tears just kept falling, so in the end he just pulled you into his chest as he gently let a hand run through your hair.
He heard you mumble something into his chest, he hummed slightly to make you repeat your words as he adjusted his stance so he could hear you without letting you go.
“You felt it…” It wasn’t much louder than a whisper, but it was enough for him to stiffen.
He pulled you away from his chest and looked down at those still tearfilled eyes.
He took your hurt hand with his, and kissed the exact places the door had made contact. His own eyes had filled with tears so when he looked at you, his eyes mirrored his own.
“I’ve felt everything, every tiny bit of pain, every sumped toe, every corner or door frame you have walked into. I’ve felt all of the pinches and squeezes that come in three that you’ve sent my way. I’ve felt every bit of it, and I’ve hoped and hoped that it was you sending all the pain to me, so that I one day could feel the world's greatest pleasure of finally calling you mine”
Your arms flung around his neck and he pulled you closer than ever before, fully ready to claim as much as you as you allowed.
It wasn't that this scenario was particularly funny, but the sheer relief of finally being able to express how you felt freely knowing that he felt the exact same, knowing that he always had.
He lifted you up from the ground and set you down on the kitchen table.
He kissed you left cheek once. Then your right. He nuzzled his nose against yours before finally looking at you with those eyes. Those dammed eyes.
He kissed your lips once, quick, then once more. For every kiss they became longer and more passionate, and before you knew it he had laid you down on the surface and were crawling over you as his lips claimed every bit of skin he had access you.
The sounds you made were the most beautiful thing he had ever heard, and he knew now that he would never run out of inspiration ever again.
The two of you had spent the entire night entangled in one another, catching up on years of intimacy.
Your head gently rested on his chest, as his hand gently caressed a shoulder. He was silent, just looking at the ceiling.
“How am I ever gonna leave you tomorrow?” The question wasn’t really aimed at you, but you twisted around and rested your chin on him as you took him in.
If you could, you would take a mental picture of him like this. Eyes shining, messy bed head and a subtle shine on his skin.
You smiled and he returned it before his hand left your shoulder for your hair and he gently started playing with it.
“We’ll have a lifetime to catch up on those few years we missed”
You physically saw his pupils dilate. “Say that again”
His voice was quiet, gentle.
“You will have a lifetime with me”
Vernon was anything but exhausted when he was finally back in the practice rooms of the HYBE building.
It was as if this had been the boost he had been missing. He was more energetic and more vocal than he had been in quite a while.
Joshua and Minghao had both given each other a knowing look when he had entered that morning with a smile on his face and that well known spark in his eyes. There was no doubt that your visit had gone the way they had all hoped that it would.
The two of you had made a plan, that you would stop by around lunch time and that he would finally introduce you to all of his brothers as his other half.
All thirteen of them had known and met you through both calls and facetime, but this would be the first time that you would actually meet.
He got more and more excited the closer the time came. And when he got the text message that you were officially on your way, that well known smile of his, was on full display.
“I’m assuming that everything went well?” Joshua said as he leaned against one of the walls, close to the corner where Vernon had fled to, to respond to you.
“Yah, hyung… It was everything and more than I could’ve dreamed of” He looked up from his phone and smiled.
Joshua returned it. “So when are you gonna introduce her to everyone?”
“She’s on her way, should be here soon. I just have to get her, her pass and everything so I might need to step out for few minutes”
His older brother nodded. There was pride blooming in Joshua’s chest, pride that his brother finally showed his love what he had held in his heart for so long.
“What did she say about the grand gesture?” He asked with a raised brow.
Vernon only smiled. “We never really got that far” it was almost as if he was taken back to that moment once again, as if he was reliving it once more.
His eyes glassed over, and he silently bit his lip.
“Damn” Joshua said, and luckily for Vernon it was enough to snap him back to reality.
He felt it then, those three little pinches on his hand. He smiled and as he opened his mouth to speak the pinches continued.
It was panicked, desperate. His smile stiffened and his eyes lost all of it’s spark, to him it felt as if time itself were moving in slowmotion.
“Something’s wrong… Josh, find her”
Then the pain hit his body, instant, out of the blue and overall all consuming, and everything became dark.
Something heavy was laying on his legs when he finally woke up, he moved and heard a silent whine as whoever the person was hugged him tighter.
He opened his eyes to find Chan there, silent but grateful tears streaming from his eyes.
“Hyung, how are you feeling?” He said with a sad smile.
Vernon didn’t respond, instead he searched every part of his soul for that small light that was you, and it was still there that thread of light that connected the two of you.
Jihoon laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Take your time little brother, we got you”
And as Vernon looked around the room he saw half of his brother's eyes, all worried, some red, some tired.
Minghao ran a hand through his hair gently. “She’s okay, she’s in the next room”
Vernon tried to speak but his throat was too dry to get a word out.
“A car ran a red light, two streets over, Joshua was there before the paramedics, he and the rest haven’t left her side since”
It felt like a weight lifted off of his shoulders. You were safe, you were okay.
“Ho-how l-lo” Was all he managed to get out before Seungcheol came with a glass of water.
“It’s only been one night, the last update we got was that she was still out like a light”
He tried to sit up but his entire body was sore and hurting.
“I need to get to her” he said with a groan, if this was how he felt, he knew you were feeling so much worse.
It was his job to take care of you. His job to protect you. As much as he treasured his brothers for looking out for you, he needed it to be him.
“You need to rest” Seungkwan said as he dried his nose.
“Are all of you seriously telling me you would not run to your soulmates had you been in my situation?” He couldn’t help but laugh, but the sound was hallow, almost cold.
The six men looked between them, a silent conversation that ended with Seungcheol getting a wheelchair.
It took them so long to get him out of bed and over to the chair, and as soon as he was in it he was out the door.
Mingyu opened the door to your room with a little smile and a pad on his back. He was by the side of your bed in less than a second.
He reached out and grabbed your lip hand, and then the 12 members of Seventeen watched as their brother fell apart.
“Don’t you dare never waking up from this, don’t you fucking dare” he said between the kisses he placed on the back of your hand.
Seokmin turned his eyes up to the ceiling to not let his tears fall.
“She’s a fighter, she’ll come back to you” Jun said as he gently stroked his brothers back with soothing strokes.
“You are mine, and I am yours. In every life before this and every life after”
He gently raised a hand to remove a strand of hair from your face.
“You promise?” A hoarse and low voice said.
“Oh thank fuck” it was the only thing he could think of saying, he could hear how the room shifted then, how his brothers left the room to give you the privacy you both deserved.
It didn’t matter that his body ached every time he moved, nothing mattered except you.
He gently moved you enough so that he could fit on the bed you were laying on.
He could feel your body ache as you stretched your arms to hold him.
Every move he made was slow and focused on hurting you as little as possible.
“I’m so glad you’re okay” he whispered into your hair as he breathed you in. Despite the very distinct hospital smells, you still smelled like you always had. You still smelled like home.
“I’m never leaving you - if we go we go together”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s a little morbid, don’t you think?”
He could feel your smile. “Maybe a little, but if you ask me I think it’s a brilliant plan”
As usual he had to agree with you.
As you recovered he never left your side. He was there to hold your hand through ever test and scan.
There was no doubt in your mind that the hospital staff couldn’t wait until you were discharged, but he refused to let you leave before they had checked everything twice.
It meant that your first meeting, your first awake meeting, with all his brothers happened in a hospital room.
“Joshua” you said with a huge smile as he stepped forward with an otherworldly beauty on his arm. “I remember you”
Joshua had gotten to you so fast that you could actually remember seeing his face before you passed out.
He nodded. “Yeah, don’t think I’ve ever moved as fast as that day” the woman next to him rested her head on his shoulder.
“My hero” she said as she pulled him close to her.
Vernon nodded. “Mine too”
Your soulmate gently kissed your temple.
The guys had competed for second place, and had boasted proudly of just how they had taken care of you and Vernon the days after the accident.
Their bickering was entertaining, and absolutely hilarious. Vernon had to send them out multiple times because they made you laugh so hard that your whole body physically hurt.
The girls had been stoked that they now had a 12th sister to talk to, and each and every one of them had given you a little gift as welcome to the group.
Your heart felt full of love, and despite the room being filled to the brim most days it had everything to do with him.
Through it all he was there, right next to you, loving you, as he always had, as he always would.
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