Ash

I receive the call from Yoongi whilst I'm still in my studio. My phone starts to buzz and I look over to see the caller ID, a wide grin playing on my face. I pick up, holding the phone to my ear.

"Hey Yoongs. Why are you calling?"

"Can't I just call because I miss you?"

I laugh at his cheesy reply.

"Nope."

"Alright, I'll hang up th-"

"What do you want, Yoongi?"

"I just wanted to know how you are. I haven't talked to you in months. How's the job?"

"Oh, I quit. Actually, I'm now working somewhere else."

"Really? How did your boss take to you quitting?" There's a slight smile to his voice.

"He had the audacity to laugh in my face, saying that I was making a funny joke. He still didn't get it when I slapped the resignation letter on his desk. I think it was only when he saw me moving all my stuff out of my studio, that he realised I wasn't joking."

"I'm glad you moved on from that place. Where you working now?"

I bit my lip, a wicked grin forming.

"Well, I thought I might choose somewhere closer to you....." I trail off, letting him digest that.

"I-........ Wait, what? What do you mean? Where are you right now?"

"At my new apartment in Seoul." I reply coolly and listen to Yoongi explode over the line.

"Ash! How long have you been in Korea for?!"

"Just over a month."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me you were in Korea?!"

I laugh again at his annoyance.

"You had your comeback, I didn't want to disturb you. Beside you were going to find out anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You'll learn soon enough."

Yoongi chuckles darkly. "Send me your address."

"Why should I?" I say in a taunting voice.

"So I can come over and shout at you for not telling me." A long pause, "Would you eat Gimbap if I brought it over?"

"Sure. I'll send you the address and see you there in half an hour. Sound good?"

"Whatever."

Yoongi hangs up and I smile to myself. I haven't seen Yoongi in a couple of years, so it'll be nice to talk to him face to face again. Of course going forwards, a lot of that is going to be happening, since I'm going to be making music with him.

I shut down my desktop and grab all of my stuff, shoving my coat on and leaving the studio, locking the door behind me. I decide to take the stairs down and a few minutes later I'm strolling through the lobby, saying goodbye to all of the cleaning staff still here. It's currently just coming up to nine and most of the staff has already gone home.

I step outside, not realising that it's pissing with rain until too late. I grimace when I remember that I don't have an umbrella, but I'm thankful that I'm only walking for a couple of blocks.

The walk seems to take longer than usual, due to the fact that everything looks different in the rain and there's lots of people out, walking down the streets with umbrellas. I realise with a start that Yoongi's going to get there before me, a chill running through me that isn't from the cold. Yoongi won't be able to get into my apartment until I get there. What if he gets recognised?

I start to walk faster, coming up to a crossing. Cars rush past me, splashing water onto my boots, my hair completely drenched now. I grip onto my phone hard in one hand, shifting from foot to foot, wanting to get to my apartment quicker. Finally it looks like there's no more cars coming down the road and I step off the curb, making my way across the road.

I don't even realise that there's a car speeding towards me until something grips my wrist and pulls me out of the way. I hit a chest and bring my hand up to steady myself, not sure what's going on. I look up at my saviour and I stop breathing.

The world blurs, dulling around me, until there's only him, gentle dark eyes staring back down at me. I'd always expected the so called "euphoria" feeling to feel like a drug: out of control and wild, but instead it's more a of a beautiful clarity, something about it feeling right and in place. I know that the person standing in front of me, is my soulmate.

Finally.

I let out a breath, which feels freer now, and I let myself get lost in his deep eyes. Suddenly a stinging comes from my right wrist and he lets go of me, to look at his wrist. I snap back to my senses, remembering that Yoongi's coming to my apartment. As much as I want to stay with my soulmate, I leave him, running past him and onto the otherside of the road. The aching starts a few minutes later and by the time I reach my apartment, I'm stumbling, holding onto the walls to keep myself upright.

I stagger up to Yoongi, who's grinning face drops when he sees my state. He rips the apartment key out of my hand and opens the door with ease, turning the lights on and pulling me inside. Once the door's shut, I let myself break down, letting go of all the emotions building up inside me.

I slump to the floor, crying into my wet hands, a terrible sense of guilt drowning me.

***

The rest of the night is a complete blur, the only thing that I'm sure of, being the words that I keep saying, over and over again.

I'm sorry.

Yoongi looks after me, helping me to run a bath for myself and then after that tucking me into bed, giving me some painkillers for the raging headache wrecking my brain. He stays beside me, whispering quietly to me and stroking my hair in a calming way. The only other word he's able to get out of me is soulmate.

At some point he gives me one last smile and leaves, me in my weak state reaching out after him. I fall off my bed with a thump, sobbing rivers into my duvet, clinging onto it so tightly that when I wake up in the morning, I've torn a gaping hole in it.

***

The trip to work isn't enjoyable. I decide to get up later, since I don't have any meetings with anyone today and head into the building at gone ten. I haven't even tried to cover up the bags under my eyes and as soon as Eunbi sees me, she flinches.

"What the hell happened to you?! You look like death!"

In response, I show her my soulmate tattoo and she gasps, as we head down the corridor to my studio. I open the door with some difficulty since my hands are shaking so much.

"Alright. Tell me everything."

And so I do, stuttering on every other word as a fresh wave of pain rolls through. Once I'm finished, Eunbi pulls me into a tight hug.

"We'll find him, don't worry Ash."

I nod and pull away.

"How about you go visit Bangtan to get your mind off the pain?"

"A-and have them s-see me in t-this state? No thank y-you."

"Oh come on Ash. They're all in the same dance studio as before. You don't have to stay there talking for ages, just say hi and then excuse yourself. I'll be right behind you."

"F-fine."

We get up and walk out of my studio. A minute later, I'm standing outside the practice room.

"Go on. Knock." Eunbi eggs me on and I let out a shaky sigh.

I raise my hand and knock twice.

"Come in!"

I cautiously push the door open only to be met by seven tired faces.

They don't look very rested.

I look around at all of them as I speak.

"H-Hi. I just wanted to s-say hello to the members that I d-didn't meet before. I'm.........."

My breath catches when I meet eyes with a man I've seen a thousand times on tv and social media, but there's something different. It takes a second for my sleep deprived mind to catch up with me and my eyes widen.

My soulmate.

My skin itches, wanting to touch him now that he's so close to me, but I just stay there, stock still. I don't even register that I haven't finished speaking.

And then the impossible happens.

My soulmate strides towards me and pulls me into his arms, wrapping his arms around my back and I can't help but hug him. I relax into his embrace, his cheek pressed against the side of my forehead.

This is what it feels like to have a soulmate.

I can feel all the pain and aching in me disappearing, my headache easing into nothing. The warmth and safety of his embrace draws out the emptiness in my heart and I smile, as he nestles his face into my hair.

"What the..........?"

He pulls away, giving me an adorable, dimpled smile, slipping his hand down to mine and entwining our fingers. He steps aside, looking at a shocked and confused Bangtan.

"Guys, this is my soulmate." Namjoon says, a hint of pride in his voice.

Kim Namjoon. Kim Namjoon is my soulmate.

***

"Alright, first, Ash, why didn't you tell me that you're working at Big Hit?! And secondly........... what the-"

"Yoongi don't swear." Seokjin cuts of a furious Yoongi.

"I'll swear as much as I like! My best friend and brother are soulmates! And Ash works at Big Hit! Someone slap me."

"Will do." Jimin grins, but the look drops off his face when Yoongi glares at him.

"Wait, what do you mean best friend? You know our new producer?" Taehyung asks and Yoongi nods his head.

"I've been friends with Ash for four years."

"And you knew she was We Rose Supreme?!"

"Yep. I actually helped her come up with that name."

I roll my eyes, "No you didn't. JJ came up with my name, remember? You suggested something like............  I actually can't remember because it was so bad."

"My idea was amazing!"

"Yoongi." Seokjin warns as he hears the growing anger in Yoongi's voice and crosses his arms in a huff, grumbling a few choice words under his breath.

After Namjoon told them I was his soulmate, practice was immediately forgotten. Everyone grabbed a chair and sat down in the middle of the practice room, eager to know everything. I told Eunbi that we might be a while, so she went back to her studio instead of waiting outside. My chair is right next to Namjoon's, his soft hand still holding onto mine. All the skin ship has eradicated all the pain I was feeling and just by looking at his face, I can tell that Namjoon's feeling better as well.

I still can't get over the fact that Kim Namjoon, the Kim Namjoon is my soulmate. The last hour has been intense and I've been blushing madly whenever I remember that I'm holding his hand.

"Look, can we put a hold on all the questions? We've been here for an hour. I can answer any questions you have later." I say and they nod their heads.

"I have just one more question." Jimin says, "There's supposed to be a week of you two staying as close to each other as possible, to let the bonding settle. How are we going to do that?"

Namjoon and I glance at each other.

"I suppose I could stay at your apartment for the week."

"Y-You don't need to do that." I reply shyly.

"If Ash doesn't mind, I think all of us would be happy to house you at the dorm. It would give us time to get to know you properly." Hoseok suggests.

"No-"

"I'd love to." I interrupt Namjoon, who is now gaping at me.

"Really? You want to live with these six idiots for the week?"

I laugh at his words, smiling at him.

"Namjoon, these guys are your family. It would be wrong of me to take you away from them and they need time to decide whether I'm worthy enough for you."

"But you are more than worthy......" Namjoon says quietly, his dark eyes suddenly saddening. He leans down, his forehead resting on mine, taking me by surprise, but I don't pull away even though my face is on fire.

"E-Even s-still. They're y-your family. I-I'd like to get to know them as well."

I plead at him with my eyes and I feel him sigh.

"Alright. But I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

"Isn't that the point?" I chuckle shyly and Namjoon's tense mood eases, a small smile appearing on his lips.

Someone coughs and we pull away quickly, both of our faces turning bright red. I look away, whilst Namjoon scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, the rest of the members eyeing us with smirks.

"Oh, this is going to be a fun week." Yoongi mutters under his breath.

---------------------------

{"It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."― Lewis Carroll}

QOTD: What is your favourite song on D-2?

Mine is Interlude: Set me free.

Alys xx