"WAKE UP, YOU LAZY RASCALS!" A loud feminine voice shouted, breaking the peaceful silence of the morning.

"Ah!" startled, a man jumped up in his sleep and fell over from his cot, landing directly on top of another man.

"Hasan! What are you doing?! My beautiful face is crushed!" The man said.

"Sorry, Junaid!"

"Does she have to yell everytime...?" another man said, sleepily.

"You already know, Tahir, it's as if her day does not start without shouting," another man, who was already wake, said laughing.

"That's right, but it's not nice to have our ears blown up every morning, Irfan..." Tahir replied back, sighing.

"I know..." Irfan sighed as well.

"Ugh, it's not necessary to be all sad and down right after we wake up! Let that woman say whatever she wants. Why should we get sad?" Another boy, who was also just waking up like Tahir, said.

"Javed's right. And anyway, since when did we start to care about whatever that bitch says?" A man who was watching them all from the beginning said.

"Samir! It's not nice to hear nasty right after we wake up, either!" Junaid said, but Samir showed a fake pout and pulled out the most innocent face he could muster, and said,

"But I just said the truth!~"

And that was something which melted the stern face of Junaid. How can he be angry at such a face? He sighed defeatedly, while the others watched the scene unfold with amusement.

But the conversation ended there and everyone slowly lined up to wash their faces.

Soon they were all done, ready to face the new day.

Well, not all of them.

"Who's gonna wake up the sleeping beauty?" Samir asked, hands on his waist, looking at the boy who was still fast asleep on his cot with drool dripping from his mouth.

"I can do that!" Tahir said and immediately jumped on top of the boy.

"AAHHH!" A scream escaped his drool filled mouth after feeling a sudden weight squashing himself.

"Aayan~ Wake up, honey~ Darling~" Tahir said in a sing-song voice near his ears.

Honey.

Darling.

Yes, you read it right.

And yes, they're each others Soulmates.

Infact, all seven of them are.

It took them so much time to find eachother, one by one, trying to complete themselves. But destiny was probably not satisfied with seven of them, which is already such a rare phenomenon, that she decided the group will be of eight. That last person is yet to be found. Their life was incomplete without their eighth and last soulmate, it felt as if a apart of their heart is away from them. And how often their thought about their last soulmate was only known to them - how their hearts were yearning for that one person who will finally complete them and make them feel whole.

But destiny is the one who is in-charge. If she has decided that the group will be of eight people, then it is also her job to decide when it will be like that.

"Ugh- couldn't you have woken me up gently?" Aayan said, making a face, after finally waking up and realising that he was not under the foot of any elephant.

"No," Tahir said grinning wide.

"I DO NOT HAVE SO MUCH TIME TO WAIT FOR YOU FOREVER!"

All of them sighed, hearing the voice shouting from downstairs, and Aayan stood up to get himself ready for the day.

~

The seven men headed down to get their meal for the day. As they reached, the source of all the screams they heard earlier revealed herself; Asma, an arrogant middle-aged woman with nasty behaviour.

"Finally decided to make your majestic appearance? Why didn't just sleep more and come down after sunset?" She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We would've gladly done so, but someone's screams were making our ears bleed," Samir replied, his words being equally sarcastic.

"You dare to talk back to me, huh?! I don't think I need to remind you tha-"

"Please don't start arguing now... Just give us the food and we'll be on our way," Junaid interrupted. He did not like arguing with her, and definitely did not like the topic she was about to bring up now.

She scoffed and threw down their food bags, while the boys did nothing but sigh and pick it up.

Without uttering another word, they left.

--

The street market was bustling with people, as usual. Lines and lines of shops placed between tall buildings seemed never-ending, almost resembling a maze. Someone could easily get lost here if they were not familiar with the surroundings. But that was not the case for the boys, because they spent almost all of their day in this very market. Having their own stalls in a corner, the market was almost their second home.

"Javed! Spread the cloth properly. There, that corner." Samir instructed while pointing towards an area as they were setting up their stall. Javed obeyed, and immediately straightened out the cloth. Only then did he and Samir keep on it the different sacks of spices they ordered from a farmer.

"Done." Javed said as he finished.

"No, not yet, Darling," Irfan said as he rummaged through his bag and fished out the small name tags he made with the name of each spice, putting them on the correct sack.

"Now we're ready for business!" he grinned.

This shop was among the first ones in line from the north, where many ministers and nobles resided. Samir, Irfan and Javed operated this shop and they sold the spices for a little higher price, since the wealthy people could easily afford them. But the prices were in accordance with the quality, since the spices they had were one of the best you could find.

On the other hand, the rest of their soulmates were setting up another shop, which was located at the market of the southern side of the city. That's where the poor people lived in slums. In this side of the market, the quality of the things sold was not that good, and hence they were cheaper.

Out of the group, only Tahir was the one who didn't work in the spice shops. He worked elsewhere.

Here, Aayan was spreading the cloth, while Hasan and Junaid were placing the heavy buckets of spices on it. Compared to the other side, the spices they had here seemed colourless... almost as if they'll be tasteless as well. But in reality, they had enough flavour to serve the purpose; surprisingly enough, if one was to take a look at the prices at which they were sold.

This was the main factor which reeled in lots of customers on both sides of the market, their spices being much better than others. Their income was ensured, and never a day had come when they left to go home empty-handed.

But of course, not everyone who came inside their shops had the intention to just buy spices. Many young girls just came to simply gawk at the amazingly handsome men, while some nearby sellers also came in to chat in the afternoon, or to talk and discuss about any interesting topic they could relate to.

While they always felt awkward with the girls watching them, they were more than happy to have a conversation with the older and more experienced sellers around.

Not only the older sellers, but everyone in the southern side was mostly poor. They did not have the arrogance of money and thus were humble, uncaring about social status. According to them, the Talented and the Ordinary, the poor and the rich - all were equal. And that's the reason why they don't hesitate to talk with these seven men. They are friendly, and talk with them just like any other person.

But most of the people in the Northern side, the rich people, seem to think differently.

They often think that the seven men are disgusting, due to their large soulmate group of men.

But the southern market side people never thought that. They talked with the group freely. They gossiped, and seemed to know about everything that was happening in the city. They came in, or invited the group to join in, usually in the afternoon when people don't usually shop.

Today was no different.

"Aayan! Junaid! Hasan! Come over!" One of the men called from the opposite line of stalls.

"Coming!" Hasan replied as the three of them walked out of their own shop after making sure that all spices are kept away safely. Better be safe than be robbed off in broad daylight.

By the time they reached the man's shop, other people from some nearby shops were already there.

"...yeah, they say that she's so beautiful, no one else can compare to her!"

"I heard that she has been receiving marriage proposals ever since she turned thirteen!"

"Where did you hear that from?"

"My son works in the palace. He accidentally heard some other people talking about this."

"Has he ever seen her then?"

"No, unfortunately. Not many people are allowed to be near her."

"If she has been receiving proposals since she was thirteen, then how old is she now?"

"She will turn eighteen soon."

The boys stood quietly, giving eachother silent looks to try to figure out if anyone of them knew who they were talking about.

"Who are you talking about?" Aayan spoke up suddenly, voicing their confusion.

The older men were startled at first but then they burst into laughter, looking at their puzzled faces.

"Shehzadi, my boys. We are talking about the Shehzadi."
(Princess)

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The boys make their entrance~

These are their names!

Also, the hairstyles of the boys are the same as shown in the photos. You can imagine them like that.

Thank you for reading this!

Bye~

BORAHAE~
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜